Officials said that two men were indicted in the case of a hot, airless tractor-trailer rig found last month with 53 dead or dying migrants in San Antonio. The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala, and two from El Salvador.
A federal grand jury in San Antonio indicted Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, both of Pasadena, Texas.
This is the deadliest smuggling attempt in U.S. History in a year when it is estimated that millions of illegal migrants have crossed into the United States—emboldened by an open border policy that has made it a free-for-all at the southern border.
Police found Zamorano hiding in the nearby brush after spotting him on a remote San Antonio back road. A search of Zamorano’s cellphone revealed calls with Martinez concerning the smuggling run.
Surveillance video of the 18-wheeler passing through a Border Patrol checkpoint showed that the driver matched Zamorano’s description, according to the indictment.
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- Federal grand jury indicts two men in fatal tractor-trailer incident in San Antonio KSAT San Antonio
- 2 indicted in migrant death-trailer case that left 53 dead The Associated Press
- Two Texas men indicted in deaths of 53 migrants found in sweltering hot truck New York Post
- Prime suspects in San Antonio human-smuggling tragedy federally indicted KENS5.com
- Federal indictment formally charges primary suspects in San Antonio human-smuggling tragedy KENS 5: Your San Antonio News Source