*At least 51 migrants were found dead inside of a sweltering hot 18-wheeler near San Antonio Monday afternoon. Two men have been charged in connection with the deaths, according to criminal complaints filed in US District Court for the Western District of Texas.
According to reports, the smugglers are said to have driven the migrants into Texas by pretending to be workers for a local company. Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao have been charged with “possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the United States,” according to the criminal complaints that were filed the same day the migrants were found.
Authorities believe the two men cloned the semi-truck of a legit business in the Rio Grande Valley in order to skirt law enforcement.
According to the New York Post, the victims in the truck were allegedly sprinkled with steak seasoning and other spices to mask their odor.
READ MORE: Texas Gov. Abbot’s Gonna Send Buses of Immigrants to D.C. | WATCH
A reporter asks Biden:“Do you have any reaction to the deaths of 50 migrants in Texas?”
He just walks away.
Describes this Administration perfectly.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 28, 2022
The bodies were discovered when cries for help were heard coming from the 18-wheeler that was abandoned on Monday. According to the San Antonio Express-News said, some of the migrants tried to escape as the truck was moving. Several bodies were found for blocks near where the truck was abandoned. First responders reportedly found 16 survivors suffering heat stroke and exhaustion. They were transported to a local hospital where several of them remain in critical condition.
The owner of a local Alamo-based trucking company said the smugglers painted the semi to match one of his own, even copying his vehicle’s Department of Transportation registration number.
“Officers researched the Texas registration plate on the semi-truck and found a residence in San Antonio, Texas as the truck’s registered address with Texas motor vehicle records,” the police affidavit said, CNN reports.
Per the report, the San Antonio Police Department set up surveillance at the residence “and observed a Ford F-250 leave the residence with a single Hispanic male driving.” According to the affidavit, the man was identified as D’Luna-Bilbao.
The medical examiner continues to determine the causes of death, as investigators work to identify all of the victims. Officials said some of the migrants are teens.
Driver of Texas migrant truck was ‘very high on meth’: report https://t.co/NIWUrn8vp2 pic.twitter.com/2fgyh5OQqS
— New York Post (@nypost) June 29, 2022
“Some of them are under the age of 18, but we have to ask you to understand what we have in material there to try and identify individuals cannot be perfectly matched to the individual,” said Bexar County Asst. PIO Tom Peine.
According to reports, the smugglers are Mexican nationals residing in the US illegally. The death toll includes people from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, according to law enforcement.
“This is the worst human-smuggling event in the United States. This sheds light on how dangerous human smuggling is,” said Craig Larrabee, Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio acting special agent in charge.
“In the past, smuggling organizations were mom and pop. Now they are organized and tied in with the cartels. So you have a criminal organization who has no regard for the safety of the migrants. They are treated like commodities rather than people,” he told CNN.
51 migrants, including some children, have now died after being abandoned in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas.
At least a dozen are still in the hospital as investigators search try to identify the victims. pic.twitter.com/5d5QWRuwAZ— KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) June 29, 2022
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