MotherTrucker

A federal grand jury in Texas has charged 14 people in a human smuggling ring that prosecutors say left seven people dead, including a 14-year-old child from Honduras. The Justice Department says the group operated from 2023 into this year, bringing people across the border near Del Rio and then loading them into shipping containers on freight trains. Families were charged between $1,500 and $10,000. Prosecutors say that on May 9, smugglers used bolt cutters to open a container on a Union Pacific train in Del Rio, put seven people inside, and locked the door from the outside. The container had no air and no cooling, and it was about 90 degrees outside. When the train reached San Antonio, the smugglers opened the door, saw the people in trouble, and ran. They left one person dead by the tracks and left the others locked inside. The next day, a worker at a railyard in Laredo saw a leg sticking out of the container. Six people were found dead inside, and the seventh body was later found near the tracks in San Antonio. Investigators said at least one of them had sent a message to family begging for help. This is just sick. These smugglers treated human beings like cargo, and 12 of the people charged could face life in prison if they are convicted. Four of the defendants are U.S. citizens, and the rest are from Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. I am glad federal agents and Texas law enforcement stayed on this case. This is what happens when smugglers use our train tracks in Del Rio, San Antonio, and Laredo as a pipeline. It should never have happened. See the link to the article in the comments.