Man charged with human smuggling following traffic stop

HARRISON COUNTY — A man has been arrested in Harrison County for allegedly smuggling five individuals. According to our news partner KETK, around 1:10 p.m. Sunday, a Harrison County deputy conducted a traffic stop for a moving violation on Interstate 20 eastbound at the 619 mile marker. When speaking with the driver of the vehicle, the deputy said the driver’s behavior indicated that criminal activity was taking place.  During the deputy’s investigation of the vehicle, the driver was identified as Benjamin Rios-Perez, 32, and officials said that he was participating in human smuggling by transferring five individuals for $700 per person which led to the vehicle and $3,701 being seized. Rios-Perez was arrested and booked into the Harrison County Main Jail where he was charged with smuggling of persons for pecuniary benefit. The five individuals that Rios-Perez was smuggling were identified as Anthony Ferrera,19, Brainer Aguilar Diaz, 18, Maria Paula Gomez, 45, Yaison Salas, 26 and Samuel Camacho Rodriguez, 18. All five of them were charged with not wearing a seatbelt.