FREDERICKSBURG, Texas — The Fredericksburg Police Department said Friday afternoon it has arrested two men accused of human smuggling.
On June 28, the department received a tip that a Dodge Ram was traveling toward Fredericksburg and was smuggling undocumented migrants. Patrol officers were able to locate and stop the truck as it entered the city limits.
Officers saw five men and women laying on top of each other in the backseat. The driver, identified as 19-year-old Jesus Hernandez, had a loaded AK-47 in the seat next to him. And the passenger, 23-year-old Pedro Navarro, had a loaded high-capacity semi-automatic piston in the seat next to him, officials said.
During interviews with the two, officers determined they were working together to smuggle five undocumented migrants near the Texas-Mexico border and attempted to transport them when officers intervened. One of the five people being smuggled was a 10-year-old girl, officers said.
Hernandez and Navarro were arrested and taken to the Gillespie County Jail where they were booked on four separate charges of human smuggling while in possession of a firearm. They were also charged with one count of human smuggling of a person less than 17 years old.
While being booked, both men were found to be in the possession of a controlled substance, resulting in additional charges.
The police department said its criminal investigation division is overseeing the investigation.
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