The Texas man who was allegedly driving a truck in which 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America died in sweltering conditions did not realize that the air conditioning had stopped working.
Homero Zamorano, Jr., 45, was arrested on Wednesday on criminal charges for his alleged involvement in a botched smuggling ring that resulted in dozens of deaths, according to the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
Court documents reveal how a suspected conspirator, Christian Martinez, was in contact with Zamorano throughout, according to the Department of Justice.
Martinez, a 28 year-old Walmart worker from San Antonio, was pictured in his mugshot for the first time on Friday.
Martinez ‘initiated a conversation about the death of several individuals inside a tractor trailer’ and admitted to his involvement.
Pictured: Christian Martinez, 28, accused of plotting the nation’s deadliest human smuggling operation that claimed the lives of 53 migrants on Monday in San Antonio, Texas
Martinez was allegedly in communication with the truck driver, who abandoned the vehicle with a broken air conditioner on the roadside, causing dozens to die from heat stroke and dehydration as temperatures grew to 150 degrees inside the truck
Martinez, 28, who reportedly worked for Walmart, revealed to investigators how the driver of the truck was completely unaware that the air conditioning unit was not operating. Temperatures in the San Antonio area of Texas were in the 90s and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Inside the truck, it’s estimated temperatures would have been closer to 150F.
‘The refrigerator tractor-trailer had no visible working air conditioning unit, and there was no sign of water inside, San Antonio’s fire chief Charles Hood said during a press conference.
‘None of these people were able to extricate themselves out of the truck, so they were still in there, awaiting help, when we arrived … meaning just being too weak — weakened state — to actually get out and help themselves,’ he explained.
Homero Zamorano, Jr., 45, was arrested Wednesday on criminal charges for his alleged involvement in a botched smuggling ring that resulted in dozens of deaths, according to the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas
Surveillance cameras captured Zamorano, 45, driving the rig across the border hours before he allegedly abandoned it on a road on the outskirts of San Antonio
Police say Zamorano was ‘very high on meth’ at the time of his arrest and had attempted to disguise himself as a victim of the tragedy to ‘avoid being detained’
All the while, the men were messaging back and forth and exchanging pictures, one of which included the ‘truck load manifest’.
The pair were also discussing whether Zamorano should go to the ‘same spot,’ along with some GPS coordinates that were of a destination in Laredo, Texas.
The documents claim that after Zamorano texted him to confirm the meetup, Martinez sent him an address to an industrial area just three miles from Mexico.
When Zamorano doesn’t reply, Martinez allegedly texts him repeatedly to find out his whereabouts.
‘Where are you bro,?’ Martinez texts at 1:14 p.m., according to the complaint.
By 3:18 p.m., the documents claim Martinez texted, ‘Call me bro, Yes, Call me bro.’
Martinez’s final text, at 6:17 p.m., allegedly read, ‘WYA?,’ meaning, where you at?
It was during that time that Police said Zamorano abandoned 73 migrants in the truck by the roadside in San Antonio, leaving passersby to hear screaming inside the vehicle as they made the gruesome discovery.
More than a dozen people found alive inside the vehicle. Many had to go to hospital with heat-related health problems.
The incident left 53 migrants, including five children, dead. Officials have identified 34 victims
First responders said many of the victims suffered from heatstroke and dehydration, a report said.
A further 48 people were found dead with another five having passed away since then bringing the total to 53. It is the deadliest human smuggling incident in US history.
Zamorano cowardly hid in the brush after attempting to evade San Antonio police officers by posing as a survivor, a Mexican immigrant official said.
‘In the past, smuggling organizations were mom-and-pop,’ Craig Larrabee, from Homeland Security Investigations told CNN. ‘Now, they are organized and tied in with the cartels. So, you have a criminal organization who has no regard for the safety of the migrants. They are treated like commodities rather than people.’
Martinez and Zamorano were both arrested. The pair have been charged with crimes that carry the death penalty. Two others have also been arrested and charged in the case.
The truck’s discovery came as US federal authorities are attempting to combat the influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border by launching an ‘unprecedented’ operation to disrupt human smuggling networks.
Emergency responders and investigators surround the truck where at least 53 people died after being left in the trailer in sweltering Texas heat
San Antonio Police officers were led to Zamorano’s hide-out and detained him. Surveillance footage provided by Laredo Sector border patrol agents showed the tractor-trailer crossing through an immigration checkpoint.
The video confirmed the black-colored shirt with stripe detail and hat was the clothing Zamorano, the driver, had been wearing.
The tractor-trailer carrying the migrants cleared an inland Border Patrol checkpoint, and ended up in San Antonio before the gruesome discovery was made of dozens of bodies stacked on top of one another.
Martinez, of Palestine, Texas, allegedly texted his accomplice at 12:17 p.m. on Monday on where they should meet up, according to the court documents.
The documents claim that after Zamorano texted him to confirm the meetup, Martinez sent him an address to an industrial area just three miles from Mexico.
When Zamorano doesn’t reply, Martinez allegedly texts him repeatedly to find out his whereabouts.
‘Where are you bro,?’ Martinez texts at 1:14 p.m., according to the complaint.
By 3:18 p.m., the documents claim Martinez texted, ‘Call me bro, Yes, Call me bro.’
Martinez’s final text, at 6:17 p.m., allegedly read, ‘WYA?,’ meaning, where you at?
It was during that time that Police said Zamorano abandoned 73 migrants in the truck by the roadside in San Antonio, leaving passersby to hear screaming inside the vehicle as they made the gruesome discovery.
San Antonio Police officers were later led to Zamorano’s hide-out and detained him. Surveillance footage provided by Laredo Sector border patrol agents showed the tractor-trailer crossing through an immigration checkpoint.
The video confirmed the black-colored shirt with stripe detail and hat was the clothing Zamorano, the driver, had been wearing.’
The investigation revealed that both Zamorano and Martinez communicated before the botched human-smuggling incident took place.
The truck was carrying 73 people, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press, though a DOJ source told DailyMail.com that, to their knowledge, only 64 people had been on board as it made its way through the checkpoint on Interstate 35.
It’s unclear if agents stopped the driver for questioning at the inland checkpoint or if the truck went through unimpeded. Those inside the tractor-trailer were suspected of entering the country illegally, the DOJ reported.
According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigators (HSI) responded to the scene on Monday involving 73 individuals suspected of entering the United States illegally.
At the scene, investigators confirmed 48 individuals had died. Twenty-two of those were Mexican nationals, seven were Guatemalan , two Honduran and 17 were of unknown origin but suspected to be undocumented non-citizens, the DOJ reported.
Magdalena (left) and Maria Sipac Grajeda (right) hold images of their teenage boys who died with at least 51 other migrants in San Antonio, Texas. Maria’s son, Pascual, was just 13
Members of the community take part in a vigil for the dozens of people have been found dead Monday in a semi-trailer in San Antonio
Residents of San Antonio cry as they attend a Tuesday night vigil for the victims found in an abandoned truck
A mobile fingerprint device was used by HSI to confirm the undocumented status of those in the tractor-trailer.
Sixteen of the undocumented individuals were transported to local hospitals for medical evaluation. Five people died at hospital.
Officials are working with foreign consulate officers to properly notify family members of the deceased.
There are roughly 110 inland highway checkpoints along the Mexican and Canadian borders. Monday’s catastrophe raises the question if checkpoints are able to adequately spot people in cars and trucks who enter the US illegally, Associated Press reported.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who drives through the checkpoint almost weekly, said investigators believe migrants boarded the truck in or around Laredo, though that is unconfirmed, the news outlet reported.
Zamarano’s Facebook shows him with various different selfies and a few photos with his dog, and his love for Mexico and the Houston Astros.
According to his bio, he is single, hails from Mission, Texas, enjoys smoking marijuana, and has a high school education.
His estranged wife told The New York Post that ‘he was a good man’ and was ‘shocked by his involvement.’
Margie Tamara Paz Grajera, of Honduras, (pictured left) was among the deceased on Wednesday. She had been studying at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. She was dating Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero (pictured below right). Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada of Honduras was also among the deceased
The Honduran government on Wednesday named brothers Fernando Jose Redondo Caballero (left) and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero (right) among the deceased
Sisters Carla and Griselda Carac-Tambriz, of Guatemala, were among the 53 migrants who died in an abandoned semi-truck trailer in the sweltering Texas heat on Monday. The sisters came to America to ‘achieve our dreams and also help our family’