SAN DIEGO (CNS) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection San Diego Field Office officers arrested a driver suspected of trying to smuggle a Mexican national who was concealed in a compartment built into the vehicle’s gas tank at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, it was announced Monday.
The alleged smuggling attempt occurred at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27, when CBP officers pulled over a 20-year-old man driving a 2005 GMC SUV. During an initial inspection, a CBP canine team alerted to the vehicle’s undercarriage, according to the agency.
Border officials said officers drove the vehicle to a secondary inspection area and found a person hidden inside a “non-factory compartment” in the gas tank area. Emergency personnel took the person to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, for treatment of burn injuries sustained during the smuggling attempt…