SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police say they have rounded up as many as 30 people who were seen climbing out of the back of a big rig at a far West Side shopping center early Friday morning.
They believe the group is tied to human smuggling.
Officers were answering a call about it before 4 a.m. when they also spotted the people running from the truck and scattering across the parking lot of a shopping center near Loop 410 and Highway 151.
They say they chased down the group, finding some of them hiding in garbage dumpsters in the shopping center.
In all, police say they rounded up anywhere from 20 to 30 men and women.
They say most of them appeared to have been smuggled from various countries in Central America.
Police say the truck driver also was among those who they caught.
They also took custody of a few people who they believe had arrived there to pick up some of those who were in the truck.
All of them have been turned over to the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released a statement that said in part that the agency “initiated an investigation with support from SAPD” and that “the criminal investigation remains ongoing..”
San Antonio firefighters also were on hand and provided bottles of water to the group.
A few police officers had to be treated at the scene for minor cuts and scrapes that they suffered during the chase.