Human trafficking ring disrupted: seven arrests made, eleven migrants helped in San Antonio

Seven suspects have been arrested and 11 migrants are receiving medical care after a sting operation, a Texas sheriff’s office in San Antonio said.

This was in response to the discovery of more than twenty migrants who had been transported from the border. They were found packed tightly into a hidden compartment of a trailer, where they suffered from extreme heat and limited water supplies.

Acting on a tip about a smuggling operation, law enforcement officials tracked the trailer as it was transported to a remote home near San Antonio, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

Salazar described the home as a dilapidated structure with numerous deficiencies, including holes in the floor and a lack of water. A total of 26 migrants were discovered inside. According to Salazar, 11 people were transported to a hospital for heat-related and minor injuries.

According to Salazar, the migrants had been hiding in the hidden compartment of the caravan for three hours. San Antonio experienced scorching temperatures in the high 90s Thursday afternoon, with expectations of over 100 degrees, as reported by the National Weather Service.

The conditions of the hospitalized migrants have not been released, but Salazar said all are believed to be no longer in danger of losing their lives.

Shortly after President Joe Biden announced his plans to address immigration problems at the U.S.-Mexico border, a smuggling operation took place. The move by the White House aims to minimize immigration as a potential political issue ahead of the November elections.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has consistently opposed the Biden administration’s immigration policies. Abbott initiated Operation Lone Star, a major state border security initiative that has led to legal disputes with the federal government over river buoys and razor wire to prevent migrants from crossing the Rio Grande, along with other measures aimed at border control. Texas has also transported large numbers of migrants to U.S. cities run by Democratic officials.

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In June 2022, San Antonio became the site of a tragic human trafficking incident, the deadliest in the country. Tragedy struck when a group of migrants, including young children, lost their lives in a suffocating tractor-trailer truck traveling from the border city of Laredo. The trailer had an air conditioning problem. 48 migrants were found dead on a remote road in San Antonio, while another five people later died in hospitals. The deceased persons were from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

According to Salazar, all of the individuals discovered Thursday appeared to be adults. Authorities were informed by a woman claiming to be from Guatemala that she had paid a significant sum of $16,000 to be brought to the US. The nationalities of the remaining people were not immediately known.

Salazar said he was unsure of the time of the migrants’ border crossing, but he believed they were brought into the area from Laredo, which is about 160 miles away, according to the Associated Press.

Salazar attributed the dismantling of the operation Thursday to Mexican cartels. He also reported the discovery of body armor and guns on the property. Several individuals were discovered in the home and attempted to flee, but authorities believe they have apprehended everyone involved.

“It is clear that there is a connection with a cartel,” Salazar noted. “The responsibility for this lies with the organizations that endanger them by transferring them.”

Salazar commented on the migrants’ remarkable ability to remain hidden during their transportation.

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