A teenager who had gone missing in New Mexico was found driving a truck with three illegal immigrants in the trunk, police said Tuesday.
An officer with New Mexico State Police pulled over the vehicle near Las Cruces on June 26, only to discover missing Leland Antonio Munoz Dominguez, 17, behind the wheel.
In the trunk police found three undocumented migrants, knocking on the door to be let out.
The boy, reported missing earlier this year, now faces multiple human trafficking charges.
The discovery was made during a traffic stop on I-25, when the NMSP officer stopped the 2006 BMW close to a border control checkpoint.
Inside was Dominguez, who NMSP said had been reported missing earlier this year. No information on the date of his disappearance could be found.
"While planning to release Dominguez to his grandmother, the officer heard a knocking noise coming from the vehicle's trunk," NMSP said in a post on Facebook.
Among the people discovered in the trunk was a 16-year-old.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection took custody of the migrants, while the police arrested Dominguez.
The district attorney authorized three human trafficking charges and one of endangerment of a child, and the suspect was booked into the Dona Ana County Juvenile Detention Center.
Human trafficking is considered a third degree felony in New Mexico, carrying a potential jail sentence of up to three years, along with a possible fine of up to $5,000.
In 2023, ICE assisted at least 730 victims of human trafficking, according to the department's annual report.
The checkpoint near where the suspect was stopped – Las Cruces – falls within CBP's El Paso sector.
The sector has reported 204,206 migrant encounters since Oct. 2023, with the majority being single adults. Overall, there has been a 38% reduction in encounters in the sector from the previous year.
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Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Dan Gooding is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. His focus is reporting on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico ... Read more
