Deputies thwart human smuggling attempt after finding multiple people hiding in hay bales

FAYETTE COUNTY, Texas (KBTX/Gray News) - Authorities in Texas say they stopped a human smuggling attempt after a dozen people were found hiding in hay bales.

According to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, a sergeant pulled over a white Ford F-250 pulling a hay trailer on Interstate 10 near Flatonia Tuesday afternoon.

The sergeant said he noticed the round bales of hay “had been meticulously altered and hollowed out to create concealed compartments.”

Inside, deputies found multiple people being smuggled in “dangerously confined spaces” with the hay bales being hollowed out, carrying 12 people hiding behind metal framework.

“This method of concealment is not only deceptive but incredibly dangerous to human life. Smugglers continue to use increasingly creative and hazardous techniques to transport individuals across Texas highways,” the sheriff’s office shared in a statement.

Fayette authorities said Adanaylo Lamber, 22, and Lency Delgado Fernandez, 25, both of Houston, were named as coordinators of the operation and were taken into custody on federal and state human smuggling charges.

The driver of the truck, 44-year-old Delbert Flanders of Kansas, was taken to the hospital for “unknown medical issues.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety, Flatonia Police Department and Fayette County emergency services assisted with the investigation.

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