Federal authorities announced on Wednesday that they had charged four men with human smuggling in the deaths of 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America who were found in a sweltering tractor-trailer in Southwest San Antonio on Monday, a gruesome discovery that has generated outrage in the United States and at least four other nations.

 

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, was arrested Wednesday and charged with involvement in alien smuggling resulting in death. If convicted, he could face life in prison or even the death penalty.

 

Zamorano, who is from Brownsville but now lives in Pasadena, a Houston suburb, abandoned the 18-wheeler on a semirural road near Interstate Highway 35 and tried to flee, officials said. He was “observed hiding in the brush after attempting to abscond,” according to the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas.

 

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https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/29/san-antonio-migrant-smuggling-trailer/

 

 

Migrant smuggler didn’t realize trailer’s AC unit failed, complaint says

Truck driver was high on meth, officials say

SAN ANTONIO — One of the men arrested in the deadliest smuggling incident in U.S. history told a government informant the air conditioning unit in the back of an 18-wheeler packed with migrants had stopped working without the driver knowing, according to charges disclosed in Texas federal court. Fifty-three people died after being trapped in the sweltering tractor trailer.

 

Authorities said Christian Martinez, 28, sent the driver of the vehicle a text message Monday at 12:17 p.m. — nearly six hours before the migrants were found dead — purporting to show a truck manifest. The complaint redacts the driver’s name, but federal authorities have previously identified him as Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, a U.S. citizen.

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Zamorano appeared in federal court in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time since the grisly discovery of the bodies. He and Martinez are facing charges of immigrant smuggling resulting in death, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty, in addition to hefty fines. They are among four men facing charges in connection with the crime.

 

(more)

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/30/texas-migrant-tragedy/

 

 

Texas is suffering a 'culture of death': San Antonio Archbishop

 

https://www.rawstory.com/san-antonio-archbisop/