Authorities have arrested three men in connection to the deaths of 53 migrants packed into a tractor trailer in the San Antonio area.
Homero Zamorano was arrested Monday after he allegedly abandoned the tractor trailer with scores of migrants inside, according to San Antonio Express News.
“He was very high on meth when he was arrested nearby and had to be taken to the hospital,” a law enforcement source told the San Antonio Express News.
Officials were able to track the truck’s registration to an address in San Antonio, which they began to monitor, according to the San Antonio Express News. Federal authorities then apprehended Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao as they exited the property, according to the same report.
Officials did not immediately disclose what level of alleged involvement the two other men had in the tragedy, the New York Post reported. Initially, they were only charged with firearms possession crimes, according to the same report. (RELATED: Border Patrol Chief Announces Over 1,000 Migrants, Nearly 50 Lbs Of Narcotics, 2 Sex Offenders Caught At Border Over Memorial Day Weekend)
Authorities have so far identified victims from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, according to the New York Post.
Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested three people in connection with a human-smuggling incident on San Antonio’s Southwest Side that left 51 migrants dead — making it one of the deadliest such episodes in recent history. https://t.co/JYLEvUA0Pb
— San Antonio Express-News (@ExpressNews) June 29, 2022
Temperatures peaked near 100 degrees Monday in San Antonio, when authorities discovered the truck. (RELATED: CBP Officials Encountered Double The Number Of Illegal Migrants At Border Compared To Previous Year)
Head of Mexico’s National Migration Institute Francisco Garduno said that 16 other migrants were still in local hospitals, Reuters reported Wednesday .
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized U.S. border policies Tuesday in the wake of the incident. Meanwhile, the Biden administration rejected responsibility for the disorder unfolding at the border, asserting that the southern border is “closed.”