Two men have been charged in connection to the deaths of 51 migrants who were found in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas.
Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao have been charged with ‘possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the United States,’ according to criminal complaints obtained by CNN.
Authorities located the men, who are both Mexican nationals living in the US illegally, after they responded to the semi-truck incident.
‘Officers researched the Texas registration plate on the semi-truck and found a residence in San Antonio, Texas as the truck’s registered address with Texas motor vehicle records,’ the affidavit said.
Police in San Antonio set up surveillance at the residence and observed D’Luna-Bilbao driving away from the home with a firearm in the console of his Ford F-250.
Authorities then identified another man in a separate truck as D’Luna-Mendez.
Neither of the men have been formally charged for the deaths or the alleged human smuggling operation.
Three people have been detained and are in police custody Monday evening, though their connections to the incident are still unclear. It’s unclear whether the two men are part of the three people detained.
On Monday evening authorities were alerted to an abandoned tractor-trailer with deceased people inside.
A city worker had heard a cry for help from the truck just before 6pm and came across the gruesome scene, Police Chief William McManus said.
Fourty-six migrants died while trapped inside the abandoned 18-wheeler and five of 16 who were found alive died after being taken to hospitals for treatment. The death toll includes migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
Temperatures in San Antonio, a major city in southern Texas, had reached a high of 103F (39.4C) on Monday amid an ongoing heatwave, though the temperature inside the packed trailer was likely much higher.
The tragedy comes as the number of migrants apprehended at the southern US border has reached recording-breaking highs in recent months.
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