Border agents in Arizona find 32 migrants in box truck; 2 smugglers flee

PHOENIX – Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona found 32 migrants locked in the back of a box truck on Monday, authorities said, but two smugglers got away.

Tucson Station agents attempted to stop the truck near the Interstate 10 frontage road and Grant Road around 6 p.m., U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a press release Wednesday.

The truck sped west out of the city before stopping on rural road southwest of Tucson.

The driver and a passenger ran off into the desert and couldn’t be found despite an exhaustive search, according to the release.

Agents found 31 men and one unaccompanied juvenile from Mexico and Guatemala inside the truck.

The migrants, who aren’t legally authorized to be in the U.S., will be processed for expulsion under Title 42 or removal under Title 8, according to Customs and Border Protection.

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