The victims – nationals of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador – died of heatstroke and acute dehydration inside the lorry trailer they were on and abandoned as the outside temperature reached 40°C. Only eleven survived.
Four Mexican nationals have been arrested in the US in connection with the investigation into the death of 53 migrants abandoned in the trailer of a truck in the middle of the heat a year ago in the state of Texas (south), the US government announced yesterday.
The victims – nationals of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador – died of heatstroke and acute dehydration inside the lorry trailer they were on and abandoned as the outside temperature reached 40°C. Only eleven survived.
The truck driver, Omero Zamorano, was arrested on the spot, found hiding in bushes. A man with whom he communicated during the trip was also arrested very quickly.
Yesterday Monday, US law enforcement agencies arrested four more people in Texas: Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 30; Felipe Orduña-Torres, 28; Luis Rivera-Leal, 37; and Armando Rosales-Ortega, 53 years old.
The four Mexican nationals are accused of belonging to a network of migrant smugglers and of organizing the delivery of the empty truck to the driver despite knowing – at least some of them – that the vehicle’s air conditioning system was not working properly.
They face up to life in prison.
“Human traffickers who put lives at risk for profit and break our laws cannot hide for long,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release.
“These indictments are the direct result of the government’s efforts to prevent such horrific crimes,” US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Source :Skai
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