By James Dobbin, J. David Goodman and Miriam Jordan
New York TimesSAN ANTONIO — A tractor-trailer that ended up in San Antonio with more than 50 dead or dying migrants passed through a federal immigration checkpoint inside the United States without being inspected, a top Mexican official said on Wednesday.
The truck crossed the checkpoint, operated by the Border Patrol, shortly before 3 p.m. on Monday as it drove north along Interstate 35 from the border region, the official, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, the head of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, said at a news conference that featured images of the truck and its driver at the checkpoint.
The Mexican official also said that the rig had driven by a Border Patrol station in the town of Cotulla; that station does not operate a highway checkpoint....
Prosecutors said they matched Mr. Zamorano, originally from the border city of Brownsville, Texas,
to surveillance video of the driver of the truck as it passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint. Mr. Zamorano had communicated about transporting the migrants with another man, Christian Martinez, 28, according to prosecutors, who charged Mr. Martinez with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death.
(From the Los Angeles Times: According to court records and an interview with his sister, Zamorano has a lengthy criminal history.
Texas Department of Corrections records show he was last sent to prison for
about 15 months in 2016 and 2017 for jumping bail and failing to appear in court. Before that he served nearly three years for residential burglary beginning in 2000.
His sister, Tomasita Medina, said Zamorano is the eldest of three siblings raised in the border city of Brownsville, about 280 miles southeast of San Antonio.
At about age 14, Zamorano — whom relatives call “Homer” — got involved with drugs and then dropped out of school around the sixth grade, she said.
“That’s the reason that we really never see him,” she said. “He’s always had an issue, a problem with drugs. He’s always in and out of our lives because of that.”
Medina said she was shocked when she saw news reports Wednesday that her brother had been arrested in connection with the tractor-trailer deaths. All she could think was that he became involved because of his drug habit.
“Maybe they offered him drugs or money for drugs,” she said. “Otherwise, I don’t think he would have done it.”
Medina said the arrest was particularly painful because the family has roots in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville.
“I’m devastated on both sides,” she said. “It’s hard because we do come from a family of immigrants. My dad was born in Mexico, he was raised in Mexico.”)
The truck crossed the checkpoint, operated by the Border Patrol, shortly before 3 p.m. on Monday as it drove north along Interstate 35 from the border region, the official, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, the head of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, said at a news conference that featured images of the truck and its driver at the checkpoint.
The Mexican official also said that the rig had driven by a Border Patrol station in the town of Cotulla; that station does not operate a highway checkpoint....
...The San Antonio police said they arrested a man identified as the driver in a field near the truck. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors charged the man, Homero Zamorano, 45, with one count of alien smuggling resulting in death.
Prosecutors said they matched Mr. Zamorano, originally from the border city of Brownsville, Texas,
to surveillance video of the driver of the truck as it passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint. Mr. Zamorano had communicated about transporting the migrants with another man, Christian Martinez, 28, according to prosecutors, who charged Mr. Martinez with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death.
(From the Los Angeles Times: According to court records and an interview with his sister, Zamorano has a lengthy criminal history.
Texas Department of Corrections records show he was last sent to prison for
about 15 months in 2016 and 2017 for jumping bail and failing to appear in court. Before that he served nearly three years for residential burglary beginning in 2000.
His sister, Tomasita Medina, said Zamorano is the eldest of three siblings raised in the border city of Brownsville, about 280 miles southeast of San Antonio.
At about age 14, Zamorano — whom relatives call “Homer” — got involved with drugs and then dropped out of school around the sixth grade, she said.
“That’s the reason that we really never see him,” she said. “He’s always had an issue, a problem with drugs. He’s always in and out of our lives because of that.”
Medina said she was shocked when she saw news reports Wednesday that her brother had been arrested in connection with the tractor-trailer deaths. All she could think was that he became involved because of his drug habit.
“Maybe they offered him drugs or money for drugs,” she said. “Otherwise, I don’t think he would have done it.”
Medina said the arrest was particularly painful because the family has roots in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville.
“I’m devastated on both sides,” she said. “It’s hard because we do come from a family of immigrants. My dad was born in Mexico, he was raised in Mexico.”)
The charges against both men could result in a life sentence or the death penalty.
Two other men with connections to the truck were charged on Tuesday with weapons possession after they were arrested on Monday at a home in San Antonio. Neither is a legal resident of the United States.
Officials have said that smugglers follow a well-worn pattern for bringing migrants into the country. Small groups cross the river on foot and are then brought to hide-outs often known as stash houses. When a large enough number have been assembled, they may be brought by car, van or large truck to major cities such as San Antonio, Los Angeles, Houston or Phoenix.
As they move further from the border, detection becomes more difficult.
It was not immediately clear where or precisely when the people found inside the truck in San Antonio had gotten aboard. The Mexican officials, in their news conference, said the truck might have driven from the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas.
“Just because it went through a Border Patrol checkpoint, that doesn’t mean it was loaded with aliens at that time,” said Jerry Robinette, a former special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio. “We know for a fact it is very common for aliens to be smuggled around the checkpoint and then they are married with a transport to take them further north.”
Two other men with connections to the truck were charged on Tuesday with weapons possession after they were arrested on Monday at a home in San Antonio. Neither is a legal resident of the United States.
Officials have said that smugglers follow a well-worn pattern for bringing migrants into the country. Small groups cross the river on foot and are then brought to hide-outs often known as stash houses. When a large enough number have been assembled, they may be brought by car, van or large truck to major cities such as San Antonio, Los Angeles, Houston or Phoenix.
As they move further from the border, detection becomes more difficult.
It was not immediately clear where or precisely when the people found inside the truck in San Antonio had gotten aboard. The Mexican officials, in their news conference, said the truck might have driven from the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas.
“Just because it went through a Border Patrol checkpoint, that doesn’t mean it was loaded with aliens at that time,” said Jerry Robinette, a former special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio. “We know for a fact it is very common for aliens to be smuggled around the checkpoint and then they are married with a transport to take them further north.”
19 comments:
Old, old story.
Only the names change.
Sad, but needed. World is over-populated.
fact.
Could be a Border Patrol "inside" job. They need apprehensions to justify budget requests.
Don't believe everything you read, especially from BP agents.
¡Qué lejos estoy del suelo donde he nacido!
inmensa nostalgia invade mi pensamiento;
y al verme tan solo y triste cual hoja al viento,
quisiera llorar, quisiera morir de sentimiento.
¡Oh Tierra del Sol! Suspiro por verte
ahora que lejos yo vivo sin luz, sin amor;
y al verme tan solo y triste cual hoja al viento,
quisiera llorar, quisiera morir de sentimiento.
The death penalty will take care of his drug problem. The poster who posts "fact" is posting opinion.
Mostly scum bags live in Browntown.
@7:56 AM
It is an old story
Only the names change
The world is over-populated
facts.
Right-Wing News Site Declares Trump 'Unfit To Be Anywhere Near Power Ever Again'
The Washington Examiner published the blistering editorial in the wake of bombshell testimony from the Jan. 6 committee hearings.
ha ha ha ha ha
Jail his fat ass and let's work on his kids.
Juan this is BIG BUSINESSS like the DRUG TRADE, sad but true, at $7000 price per person it adds up quickly. do the math its about $350,000.00 muncha lana.
I was a juror in a case of migrant smuggler. Only three of us were women, everyone else was male. After three days, we took one hr. to give a GUILTY on all counts. That was before the pandemic. As long as there is money involved, inside jobs, there will ALWAYS be this problem. Latin America is also at fault. Stop blaming Trump for the Wall, Biden for open borders. Latin American politicians keep your citizens in your country, It has nothing to do with "the American dream". It has a lot to do with "if I go to the US, I will be taken care, or I can live with more than 5 dollars a day." This is not only a problem in America (THE CONTINENT), this also happens in places in Africa and Europe and it is always the poorest of the poor so STOP making it a US problem only.
The deaths should be blamed on Biden's open border policy! Where's the Border Czar Kamala? Probably hiding in Biden's basement! Que mamona! Then you have ese Trump hater puto still chingando la Madre con Trump! Hahahahahaha!
Give it a break, there probably will be NO DEATH on the table for these corrupt infested animals. The so called former special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations, Jerry Robinette admitted for a FACT that the checkpoints are the common areas for aliens smuggling. Why were Texas Political leaders so against Gregg Abbott when he wanted inspections at checkpoints? What the F--K are these trucks bringing across? Where the hell is Filemon Vela? Where the hell is Vicente Gonzales? Where the hell is Henry Cuellar? These so-called money hungry bastards should be held accountable.
These so called political bastards own and control the Judicial System. May God have mercy on these corrupt so called leaders.
My hands are clean of any blood. I did not vote for Biden. His weak immigration laws attributed to this tragedy and possibly more to come. Defund the police and open borders. This is the law of the land. But there is hope on the horizon. They call it the November SUNAMI.
It's Putin's fault. It has to be. Nothing is Biden's fault. Not even the good things because there are no good things.
Ok Mayra Flores, Vela and Gonzalez are out of the picture. Your chance to introduce legislation, work with your state at the federal level. Otherwise, you are just like those you criticize and your "supporters" need to see it, and excuse you like they do all that are not dems. A REPUBLICAN can show us in 5 months what Democrats couldn't in yrs. The ball is now in YOUR COURT. From woman to woman, put up or, well... you know the end of the phrase.
Has anyone else experienced what I experience yesterday? I stopped faithfully at a local Border Patrol check point. The agent in charge of even pretending to check, did nothing but wave us through. Why? Because he was too busy on the cell phone. How many times have we seen this happen. I may be the most-American-citizen looking person, but who can stop me from hiding someone in my car and taking them to their destination. A lady on TV laughed at how she got
to the US illegal because they waited for the check point to be closed and they whole family just drove through. I remember when on Tues and Thur, the
check point in the King Ranch was closed and that is when all the maids used to cross to go to a job in Corpus or above. We need Consciential and proud
US Border Patrol to do their legal job.
hooked on drugs at 14 and later dropped out of 6th grade....dammm..i was a fish at 14
From Brownsville! As someone once told me, "Anytime Brownsville is in the news it's not for a good reason".
June 30, 2022 at 4:54 PM
So sorry but she is cleaning her ak with clorox. Maniana sounds better. She's used to saying that remember is is meskin...
These illegal immigrants are not poor if have thousands of dollars to cross the border. Should had stay home and get drunk.
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