2022 — June 27, tractor trailer found with dead/dying migrants inside, San Antonio TX–53

–53 Ankel. “San Antonio migrant truck driver put powdered chicken bouillon…” 7-5-2022.
–53 CNN. “On a Texas road called “the mouth of the wolf,’ a semitruck packed…” 6-29-2022.
–53 Daily Mail. “Driver of doomed Texas tractor-trailer…pretending to be a migrant…” 6-29-2022.

Narrative Information
(Newspapers – Chronological)

June 28, Associated Press/Washington Post: “San Antonio — Desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones as authorities began the grim task Tuesday of identifying 51 people who died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat. It was the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico.

“The driver of the truck and two other people were arrested, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas told The Associated Press. He said the truck had passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo, Texas, on Interstate 35. He did not know if migrants were inside the truck when it cleared the checkpoint.

“Investigators traced the truck’s registration to a residence in San Antonio and detained two men from Mexico for possession of weapons, according to criminal complaints filed by the U.S. attorney’s office. The complaints did not make any specific allegations related to the deaths.

“The bodies were discovered Monday afternoon [June 27] on the outskirts of San Antonio when a city worker heard a cry for help from the truck parked on a lonely back road and found the gruesome scene inside, police Chief William McManus said. Hours later, body bags lay spread on the ground.

“More than a dozen people — their bodies hot to the touch — were taken to hospitals, including four children. Most of the dead were males, he said.

“The death count was the highest ever from a smuggling attempt in the United States, according to Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio….

“Authorities did not know the home countries of all of the migrants, nor how long they were abandoned on the side of the road.

“By Tuesday afternoon, medical examiners had potentially identified 34 of the victims, but they were taking additional steps, such as fingerprints, to confirm the identities, said Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores.

“Among the dead, 27 are believed to be of Mexican origin based on documents they were carrying, according to said Rubén Minutti, Mexico consul general in San Antonio. Several survivors were in critical condition with injuries such as brain damage and internal bleeding, he said.

“At least seven of the dead were from Guatemala and two from Honduras, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, head of the North America department in Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department, said on Twitter. About 30 people had reached out to the Mexican Consulate looking for loved ones, the officials said….

“Attempts to cross the U.S. border from Mexico have claimed thousands of lives in both countries in recent decades. U.S. border authorities are stopping migrants more often on the southern border than at any time in at least two decades. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

“Comparisons to pre-pandemic levels are complicated because migrants expelled under a public health authority known as Title 42 face no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. Authorities say 25% of encounters in May were with people who had been stopped at least once in the previous year.

“South Texas has long been the busiest area for illegal border crossings. U.S. authorities discover trucks with migrants inside “pretty close” to daily, Larrabee said.

“Migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border and loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, he said….

“Authorities think the truck discovered Monday had mechanical problems when it was left next to a railroad track in an area of San Antonio surrounded by auto scrapyards that brush up against a busy freeway, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the top elected official in the county that includes San Antonio….

“Some of the 16 people taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical condition. Those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer, said Fire Chief Charles Hood. “They were suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion,” Hood said. “It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.”

“Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius)….

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 557 deaths on the Southwest border in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998. Most were related to heat exposure.” (Associated Press. “51 migrants die after trailer abandoned in San Antonio heat.” Washington Post 6-28-2022.)

June 29, CNN: “San Antonio… A distant cry led a worker Monday evening to a tractor-trailer abandoned on a desolate country road under the blazing Texas sun on the outskirts of the city.

“On this barren stretch of scrubland adjacent to railroad tracks, the perilous journey north for dozens of undocumented migrants — many of them Mexican — ended in the back of a scorching tractor-trailer, nearly 150 miles north of the US border with Mexico.

In all, 53 people died in what one Homeland Security Investigations’ agent called the deadliest human smuggling incident in US history. Some victims could be younger than 18….

“Just before 6 p.m. on Monday, a worker in a nearby building heard a cry for help and alerted local authorities to the abandoned truck, according to San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus. The doors to the hulking trailer were partially open when the worker arrived. Inside, he saw the bodies, the chief said. Forty-eight people were dead at the scene and two died later at hospitals, said a federal law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. By Wednesday morning, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office (BCMEO) said it had received a total of 53 bodies. They were migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and possibly El Salvador.

“One body was found outside the trailer. Inside the truck there were at least 22 Mexicans and two Hondurans, the federal law enforcement official said. Seven Guatemalans were among the dead, and another Guatemalan was in critical condition at a hospital, according to the nation’s foreign minister….

“Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday ranged from the high 90s to the low 100s.

“Sixteen survivors — 12 adults and four children — were rushed to local hospitals. Suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion, the patients were hot to the touch, according to Hood. On Wednesday, 11 people were still in local hospitals.

“The trailer had no air conditioning. There was no sign of water inside. It was unclear how long the victims had been dead. ‘They were still in there, awaiting help, when we arrived … meaning just being too weak — weakened state — to actually get out and help themselves,’ Hood said of the survivors.

“Felipe Betancourt Jr., co-owner of a trucking company in Alamo, Texas, told CNN the semitruck abandoned on Monday used the same federal and state identifying numbers as one of his vehicles. The truck in San Antonio is the same color as his red Volvo semi, but is not owned by his firm.

“Refrigerated semitrucks are insulated and meant to keep the temperatures stable, Betancourt said, but “if it’s carrying something hot inside, it won’t let the heat escape. The temperatures can reach up to 125-130 degrees when the doors are shut.”

“On Monday, the truck went through a checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, according to US Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat whose sprawling district includes Laredo and San Antonio.

“Homeland security officials are investigating the deaths, along with local police.

“Three people were taken into police custody away from the trailer, Chief McManus said. They are believed to be part of the smuggling conspiracy, according to ICE. Two men, Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, were charged federally with “possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the United States” in connection with the incident, according to criminal complaints filed Monday in US District Court for the Western District of Texas. It is unclear if the two men charged are among the three people detained earlier. Investigators at the scene traced the Texas registration plate on the semitruck and to a residence in San Antonio, the affidavit said. The suspects were arrested during traffic stops after leaving the residence, according to the complaints, and numerous weapons were recovered in a car and truck driven by the suspects….

“The victims were 40 males and 13 females. Some of them could be under 18 years old, according to Tom Peine, a Bexar County spokesman.

“So far, the medical examiner’s office has potentially identified 37 people, BCMEO said in a statement Wednesday. Medical examiners in neighboring counties were assisting due to the number of victims. Some victims had one photo ID while others had multiple IDs or none, complicating the identification process, Peine said….” (CNN. “On a Texas road called “the mouth of the wolf,’ a semitruck packed with migrants was abandoned in the sweltering heat.” 6-29-2022.)

June 29, Daily Mail: “The semi-truck driver who transported up to 100 migrants across the southern border before leaving them to die in the sweltering Texas heat allegedly tried to disguise himself as a victim of the tragedy. Surveillance cameras captured Homero Zamorano, 45, driving the rig across the border hours before he allegedly abandoned it on a road in the outskirts of San Antonio. Police say Zamorano, of Houston, was ‘very high on meth’ at the time of his arrest and tried to pose as ‘an irregular immigrant to avoid being detained.’…. Zamorano was photographed driving the trailer through the immigration checkpoints in Encinal, Texas, about 34 miles from the Mexico border, around 2.50pm Monday.

“Mexican nationals Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez were also taken into custody at a home in San Antonio. They were charged in federal court Tuesday with possessing firearms while residing in the US illegally….

“Investigators suspect the migrants paid the smugglers around $10,000 for safe passage to the US. ….

“The truck was found abandoned near San Antonio, about 160 miles from the border, around 6pm. Investigators suspect the truck had suffered some sort of mechanical problem.

“The driver and suspected human smuggler pretended to be an illegal migrant when authorities confronted him, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, the director of the National Institute of Migration, revealed during a news briefing Wednesday….

“Zamorano [the driver] was arrested Monday in a desolate area near Lackland Air Force Base after having tried to pass himself off as a survivor…. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to charged soon….

“Yáñez also confirmed that Zamorano had been driving a semi with a stolen registration, saying: ‘The plates, logos and license were cloned.’

“Officials had first linked Zamorano’s rig to an Alamo resident. However, investigation proved the Alamo man’s truck had been out hauling grain in another part of Texas at the time of the incident….

“Law enforcement officials believe Zamorano was transporting around 100 migrants in the rig, but the exact number remains unclear.

“Homeland Security Investigations agents confirmed migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the southern border, loaded into the tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio. Once in San Antonio they are transferred to smaller vehicles to be taken to their final destinations across the US. ….

“The deceased migrants included 39 men and 12 women. County officials told WOAI-TV five of the victims were under the age of 18. Investigators said they were not young children, but possibly teenagers….

“Authorities believe the migrants were loaded into the semi-truck in Laredo, a border city, on Monday afternoon. It appeared the migrants had recently crossed the border and were picked up by the truck to be taken to where they would work, according to a Mexican official. They were driven 150 miles to San Antonio before smugglers abandoned the vehicle after it suffered mechanical problems….

“The victims were found sprinkled with a pungent substance, possibly steak seasoning, officials said. The practice is commonly used by smugglers to mask the scent of human cargo and evade canine detection.

“Police suspect several migrants may have jumped or started falling out of the back of truck before the traffickers abandoned it along the roadway. At least three bodies were found scattered down road, with the furthest one located about 75 yards from the truck, law enforcement sources confirmed to The New York Times. Officials also said it was possible that those found along the road had died inside the truck, but fallen out when its doors opened. Some of the victims staggered out of the trailer before dying and were found several blocks away, police told The Texas Tribune….

“The surviving migrants will likely be released into the U.S. to pursue asylum or other forms of humanitarian relief, the CBP official and two other law enforcement officials told Reuters. Some survivors of human smuggling in the past have been taken into American custody to testify as witnesses….” (Daily Mail.com/Natasha Anderson. “Driver of doomed Texas tractor-trailer, 45, crossing US-Mexico border hours before pretending to be a migrant when cops found him high on meth: Death toll rises to 53.” 6-29-2022.)

July 5, Yahoo! News: “….The San Antonio migrant truck driver put powdered chicken bouillon on the floor to throw off the dogs at security checkpoints, a survivor says told the Associated Press on Tuesday…. Yenifer Yulisa Cardona Tomás, a 20-year-old woman from Guatemala City, told the AP that she was among a group of people who boarded the 18-wheeler truck on the Texas side of the Mexico border. She told the AP the driver confiscated everyone’s cellphones before they got on, and also covered the floor of the truck with powdered chicken bouillon to throw off any dogs at security checkpoints.

“Cardona Tomás said it was already scorching hot when they boarded the truck and that she and a friend decided to sit closer to the door where it would be cooler. The overcrowding and heat worsened as the truck continued its journey and made additional stops to pick up more migrants, she said. ‘The people were yelling, some cried. Mostly women were calling for it to stop and to open the doors because it was hot, that they couldn’t breathe,’ she told the AP. ‘People asked for water, some had run out, others carried some,’ she said.

“Cardona Tomás said there was no way to keep track of time and she eventually passed out. The 20-year-old made it out alive but is currently being treated at Methodist Hospital Metropolitan in San Antonio. Her friend also survived, she said…..” (Ankel, Sophia. “San Antonio migrant truck driver put powdered chicken bouillon on the floor to throw off dogs at security checkpoints, survivor says.” Yahoo! News, 7-5-2022.)

Sources

Ankel, Sophia. “San Antonio migrant truck driver put powdered chicken bouillon on the floor to throw off dogs at security checkpoints, survivor says.” Yahoo! News, 7-5-2022. Accessed 7-5-2022 at: https://news.yahoo.com/san-antonio-migrant-truck-driver-110127312.html

Associated Press. (Paul J. Weber, Juan Lozano, Elliot Spagat). “51 migrants die after trailer abandoned in San Antonio heat.” Washington Post 6-28-2022.

CNN (Ray Sanchez, Nicole Chavez, Priscilla Alvarez). “On a Texas road called “the mouth of the wolf,’ a semitruck packed with migrants was abandoned in the sweltering heat.” 6-29-2022. Accessed 6-30-2022 at: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/us/san-antonio-migrant-truck-deaths/index.html

Daily Mail.com/Natasha Anderson. “Driver of doomed Texas tractor-trailer, 45, crossing US-Mexico border hours before pretending to be a migrant when cops found him high on meth: Death toll rises to 53.” 6-29-2022. Accessed 6-30-2022 at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10964907/Driver-Texas-migrant-truck-45-high-meth-arrested-field.html