{"id":1533944,"date":"2022-06-30T16:19:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T20:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1533944"},"modified":"2022-06-30T16:19:53","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T20:19:53","slug":"semi-truck-driver-of-deadliest-migrant-smuggling-event-in-u-s-history-found-high-on-meth-faces-death-penalty-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/semi-truck-driver-of-deadliest-migrant-smuggling-event-in-u-s-history-found-high-on-meth-faces-death-penalty-authorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Semi-Truck Driver Of Deadliest Migrant Smuggling Event In U.S. History Found \u2018High On Meth,\u2019 Faces Death Penalty: Authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsemi-truck-driver-of-deadliest-migrant-smuggling-event-in-u-s-history-found-high-on-meth-faces-death-penalty-authorities%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1533944&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In the aftermath of the deadliest migrant smuggling event on the U.S.-Mexico border in American history that took the lives of 53 Mexican and Central American citizens in San Antonio, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/texas\">Texas<\/a>, on Monday, the driver of the semi-truck could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a horror that surpasses anything we\u2019ve experienced before,\u201d San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/politics-mexico-san-antonio-12d7431c008ea0123dfa9c271a27a3ca\">the Associated Press<\/a>. \u201cAnd it\u2019s sadly a preventable tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Authorities said Homero Zamorano Jr. transported 64 illegal immigrants across the southern border and allegedly was \u201cvery high on meth,\u201d the Daily Mail <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10963683\/San-Antonio-migrant-deaths-lead-slow-effort-ID-victims.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailus\">reported<\/a>. Authorities said Zamorano hid in nearby bushes after attempting to escape.<\/p>\n<p>Zamorano, originally from Brownsville, Texas, lives in Pasadena, Texas, a Houston suburb, authorities said. Six months before the tragedy earlier this week in San Antonio, Zamorano and his now-estranged wife, Jennifer Duncan, separated, the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m in shock,\u201d Duncan told the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/29\/estranged-wife-of-texas-migrant-truck-driver-homero-zamorano-says-he-is-a-good-man\/\">New York Post<\/a>. \u201cI mean, I just don\u2019t even know what to say about it. I know he wouldn\u2019t do anything if he knew it was gonna harm anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Duncan called Zamorano \u201ca good man\u201d who \u201cgoes out of his way to help anybody and everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-wdtx\/pr\/53-fatalities-tractor-trailer-smuggling-incident-charges-filed-against-four\">Authorities<\/a> charged three other men who were also found at the scene where a tractor-trailer truck first went through a Border Patrol checkpoint northeast of Laredo on Interstate 35 on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities arrested Christian Martinez, 28, on Tuesday in Palestine, Texas, and charged him with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death. Court documents show through a search warrant on Martinez\u2019s cell phone that he and Zamorano were in contact regarding the smuggling event. Martinez faces up to life in prison or could face the death penalty if convicted.<\/p>\n<p>Also arrested in the smuggling event were Mexican citizens Juan Claudio D\u2019 Luna-Mendez, 23, and Juan Francisco D\u2019 Luna-Bilbao, 48, who allegedly entered the U.S. illegally and were charged by criminal complaint with one count of possession of a weapon by an illegal immigrant. If convicted, both defendants face up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Homeland Security Investigations and the San Antonio Police Department responded to the human smuggling scene after receiving 911 calls from nearby citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Police said they discovered multiple individuals inside the tractor-trailer and on the ground in nearby brush \u2014 many of whom were already dead or incapacitated.<\/p>\n<p>Homeland Security authorities confirmed that 48 individuals at the scene were deceased, including 22 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans, two Hondurans, and 17 other illegal immigrants from an unknown origin.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Associated Press, Rub\u00e9n Minutti, Mexico\u2019s consul general in San Antonio, said several survivors were in critical condition with injuries such as brain damage and internal bleeding.<\/p>\n<p>Five illegal immigrants died at a nearby hospital after authorities transported 16 of the 64 illegal immigrants found in or around the semi-truck. With the temperature reaching nearly 100 degrees, some were dealing with heat-related illnesses.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press reported San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said those taken to the hospital were hot to the touch and dehydrated without water found in the trailer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion,\u201d Hood said. \u201cIt was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hood told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khou.com\/video\/news\/local\/texas\/san-antonio-fire-chief-were-not-supposed-to-open-up-a-truck-and-see-stacks-of-bodies\/285-775a57ad-5498-4e17-b5b8-56b0ea6f6b4f\">KHOU 11<\/a> on Monday, \u201cWe\u2019re not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden called the deaths \u201chorrifying and heartbreaking,\u201d the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy, and my administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry,\u201d Biden said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio, said, according to the Associated Press, South Texas has long been the busiest area for illegal border crossings. He added that U.S. authorities discover trucks with migrants inside \u201cpretty close\u201d to daily.<\/p>\n<p>Larrabee said illegal immigrants pay anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 for transportation across the border. Then, after packing into a tractor-trailer and hitching a ride to San Antonio, he said the smugglers transfer them to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the aftermath of the deadliest migrant smuggling event on the U.S.-Mexico border in American history that took the lives of 53 Mexican and Central American citizens in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, the driver of the semi-truck could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. \u201cThis is a horror that surpasses &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":1534029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1533944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1533944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1534029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1533944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1533944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1533944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}