This Wednesday new details were known about the death of more than 50 migrants in a truck that was found abandoned in San Antonio, Texas, near the border between Mexico and the United States.
The Mexican government pointed out that, according to its investigation, the cargo vehicle passed through at least one checkpoint of the US border authorities. on its way between the Texas cities of Laredo and San Antonio.
It also indicated that the driver of the vehicle, identified as Homero Zamorano, 45, allegedly “impersonated a migrant to avoid being detained.”
There are already 53 people killed in the tragedy.
Passing through a checkpoint
At the press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City, the head of the National Migration Institute, Francisco Garduño, offered details about the journey the vehicle made.
According to that information, the truck traveled from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio on Interstate 35, a well-known route “for the transfer of irregular migrants.”
The journey between both cities is about 235 km.
Garduño assured that the driver was captured by security cameras at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoint near the town of Encinal, about 56 km from the border.
The official assured that the vehicle passed through another CBP “migration filter” near Cotulla, 109 km from the border. However, this is a Border Patrol station attached to the highway where there are no checkpoints.
The details of the investigation shared by the Mexican authorities do not reveal whether the migrants were already in the truck at the time it passed through those two points.
Garduño assured that they presume that the trailer was previously parked in the Rio Grande Valley region, where the city of McAllen is located, about 250 km from Laredo.
It appeared to belong to the Trucking and Harvesting company, from the city of Alamo, Texas,
But the company has assured the press in Texas that the vehicle does not belong to them.
According to Garduño, who cited the Texas company, “its license plate, logos and license were cloned.”
The driver “posed as a victim”
About the driver, Homero Zamorano, the Mexican government said that “he tried to pass himself off as one of the survivors” of the tragedy.
He was photographed at 2:50 p.m. Monday at the CBP checkpoint in Encinal.
Once the report of the finding of the migrants was given, around 6:20 p.m., he was attended by the emergency services.
But he was detained by US authorities along with two other suspects. Garduño identified them as Juan Francisco and Claudio, two Mexicans captured in possession of weapons.
The Reuters agency and the Texas media indicated that both shared the last name D’Luna and that they will face a first hearing before a judge this Friday.
“These two of Mexican origin were found irregularly [en EE.UU.] and, therefore, it is a crime for them to carry weapons,” Garduño said.
Of the victims, more than half were Mexican. There were also Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans. Thirteen of the deceased were women.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-61989787, IMPORTING DATE: 2022-06-29 23:50:04
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