United States: Four men are in federal custody after dozens of dead migrants were discovered in the trailer of an apparently abandoned big rig in San Antonio on Monday.
Two additional arrests were declared on Wednesday as the death toll increased to 53.
The 45-year-old Homero Zamorano Jr. of Pasadena, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday on a charge of alien smuggling resulting in death, according to the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
The 28-year-old, Christian Martinez, was arrested on Tuesday in Palestine, Texas, on one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death, as per the officials.
Moreover, a search of Martines’s cellphone showed he and Zamorano had communicated about the smuggling event, according to federal officials.
Two other people were apprehended on Monday after San Antonio Police staked out an address in the Dellview community where the big rig was registered.
Along with this, criminal complaints filed separately in San Antonio federal court on Tuesday charged Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez with possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the United States.
The two men, both Mexican citizens who stated that they had overstayed their visas, were detained after traffic stops, the criminal complaint states.
In addition, D’Luna-Bilbao had a gun in the centre console of the truck, as well as officers found multiple firearms in the bedrooms of both men when they searched the home, the documents state.
Furthermore, Neither D’Luna-Bilbao nor D’Luna-Mendez has been formally accused of smuggling or the deaths and injuries of the migrants.
