SAN ANTONIO – A man from the Rio Grande Valley was in court Thursday morning after he was arrested by federal agents last week.
Authorities said they found five undocumented Chinese immigrants in the back of the man’s tractor-trailer.
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Lloyd Villarreal is charged with bringing in and harboring aliens and will be tried in federal court.
Just before 1 a.m. Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers called Homeland Security after finding the immigrants in the back of the 18-wheeler on Ackerman Road.
Villarreal agreed to let authorities search his truck but said he didn’t know the immigrants were there.
Court documents state that two of the immigrants told agents that Villarreal was going to take them to New York City for $60,000 each.
The immigrants also told authorities Villarreal told them to sit down, not move and be quiet.
The five immigrants have a detention hearing set for Wednesday.