Ad
Featured
Teen charged in smuggling attempt in southern New Mexico
Published
Modified
A 17-year-old boy is accused of smuggling three migrants, including a teenager, in the trunk of a car last month near Las Cruces.
Wilson Silver, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, said Leland Dominguez has been charged with three counts of human trafficking and one count of endangerment of a child in the June 26 incident.
Charging documents have not been filed against Dominguez, according to online court records.
Silver said Dominguez has been booked into the Doña Ana County Juvenile Detention Center.
A State Police officer pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 25, near milepost 27, 20 miles north of Las Cruces. The traffic stop happened just north of the I-25 Border Patrol checkpoint.
It is unclear if the vehicle had already gone through the checkpoint or was approaching it at the time.
Silver said the officer identified the driver as Dominguez, who had been reported missing earlier in the year.
“While planning to release Dominguez to his grandmother, the officer heard a knocking noise coming from the vehicle’s trunk,” he said.
Silver said the officer opened the trunk and found three migrants huddled inside, including a 16-year-old.
“When Border Patrol arrived, they took custody of the immigrants,” he said.
Ad
Silver said the Juvenile Probation Office was contacted since Dominguez is a teen and the Doña Ana district attorney approved the charges against him.
