Two teens arrested for trying to smuggle 16 migrants into Texas just days after San Antonio tragedy
ATASCOSA COUNTY, TEXAS: Two teenagers were caught with a vehicle packed with as many as 16 migrants in Texas on Monday, July 4, following a high-speed chase. A 16-year-old boy was driving the stolen Ford F 150, on Texas Highway 97. He refused to stop when US Border Patrol agents and LaSalle County deputies asked him to, Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said.
The teen then sped towards Charlotte where Atascosa County deputies joined in on the chase. He stopped on a road in Jourdanton and 15 migrants subsequently hopped out of the truck. After getting back on Texas Highway 97 into Pleasanton, the teen crashed through a private property and continued driving into County Road 423, dropping off a female migrant on the way. This is where deputies were waiting to apprehend him. Recently Christian Martinez, 28, was accused of plotting the human smuggling operation that claimed the lives of 53 migrants late on June 27 in San Antonio, Texas
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While the boy was taken into custody, another teenager, 17, jumped out of the vehicle's front passenger seat and ran into an oil company yard. He was ultimately arrested. The 16-year-old driver was taken to the Atascosa County Juvenile Detention Center and the 17-year-old was booked into the Atascosa County Jail. Both of them have been charged with human smuggling and evading arrest. It is unknown whether the teens are citizens of the US.
This incident comes after at least 46 migrants were found dead on Monday, June 27, inside a tractor-trailer on a Texas roadway. The bodies were found inside the 18-wheeler on Quintana Road in San Antonio. As many as 16 survivors were initially rushed to area hospitals in various conditions, but some of them later died. The death toll has now risen to over 53.
First responders said that they approached the vehicle and found “stacks of bodies” that were allegedly sprinkled with steak seasoning to hide the odor of decaying dead bodies. The survivors were rescued from the 18-wheeler which reportedly did not have air conditioning or refrigeration. On Monday, June 27, temperatures in San Antonio reached a high of 103 degrees. According to first responders, the people were suffering from heat stroke. The driver, Homero Zamorano and co-conspirator Martinez were later arrested.
Later, three migrants were found crammed into two tool boxes on the back of a pick-up truck as they crossed the US border into Texas. The Honduran men were discovered by Border Patrol agents at the Ysleta Station checkpoint in El Paso, Texas, on June 30. The discovery was made after the black Chevrolet Silverado transporting them was pulled over for a routine check, El Paso Sector US Border Patrol said.
A K-9 found the men during the routine border check. Border agents took photos that show the three migrants dressed in t-shirts and jeans crammed into the tool boxes. The driver, a US citizen, confessed to carrying “a personal amount of marijuana” and a handgun. He said he did not have the keys to unlock the tool boxes. Border agents later managed to open the boxes and rescue the men, and the driver is now in custody. He has been charged with conspiracy to transport.