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Press Release

Arkansas man sentenced for transporting illegal aliens in wheel well and fuel tank

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 48-year-old man from Jonesboro, Arkansas, has been ordered to federal prison for unlawfully transporting four illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

The jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes following a less than two-day trial before finding Noel Mercado guilty on two counts of alien smuggling March 11.

U.S. District Judge David S. Morales has now ordered Mercado to serve 36 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court considered evidence showing that two individuals had been bolted inside a pickup truck’s wheel well. In handing down the sentence, the court called the offense circumstance egregious and said the smuggled individuals had been “treated like trash.”

On the evening of Jan. 5, Mercado approached the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint in a Ford F-350 and nearly drove past it. Authorities noticed his jaw shaking and a stuttered response to questions. A K-9 alerted to the vehicle which prompted a referral to secondary inspection, where an x-ray scan revealed two individuals hidden in bolted wheel well compartments and two more inside the auxiliary fuel tank.

All four were illegal aliens from the countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala with no authority to be in the United States.

At trial, Mercado claimed he had travelled to the Rio Grande Valley to trade baseball cards and other collectibles. He testified he had no idea any of the four individuals were concealed inside the truck he was driving. The jury did not believe his claims and found him guilty as charged.

“As we continue our successful campaign to secure the border, human smugglers are going to get increasingly desperate,” said Ganjei. “No matter how creative they think they are in their methods, our law enforcement partners are always one step ahead.”

Mercado will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Lamont and Ashley Pruitt prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

Updated June 17, 2025

Topic
Human Smuggling