Macario Cano
A tip from an Encinal resident led to the arrest of a San Antonio man this month after he was seen loading illegal immigrants into his vehicle on Thursday, July 6.
Encinal police say a concerned citizen reported seeing a middle-aged man driving a red Ford F250 and loading a number of people into his truck on Main Street.
According to a report filed on the case, officers on routine patrol noticed the truck traveling north on IH-35 and conducted a traffic stop for a routine moving violation.
The driver, identified as 37-year-old Macario Elias Mendoza Cano, was subsequently arrested for attempting to smuggle three male undocumented immigrants into the country. Two of the passengers have been identified as juveniles.
The 14- and 15-year-old teenagers and a third passenger were taken into custody by US Border Patrol agents.
Cano was arrested and charged with a third-degree felony for human smuggling, two second-degree felonies for smuggling persons under the age of 18 and a Class A misdemeanor for possession of a firearm.
“This is a perfect example of ‘If you see something, say something,’” Encinal Police Chief Pablo Balboa said.
