Officials found 26 human smuggling victims in “miserable” and “blazing hot” conditions Thursday inside a shack in South Bexar County. Authorities said at least 11 victims were transported to area hospitals for minor injuries and heat-related illnesses.
Seven people suspected of being “coyotes,” or human smugglers, were arrested, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. Victims not hospitalized were taken in for questioning, he said.
The 26 victims were found on a property in the 2700 block of Oak Island Drive and were believed to have been transported from the Laredo area, Salazar said.
“It’s a shack,” Salazar said. “The floor is very spongy, there’s holes that you can see through. The windows are all open, but even then it’s just stifling hot in there.”
“There’s no A/C, there’s no water. They’ve got buckets that everybody has been utilizing as toilets. It’s miserable conditions in there and it’s blazing hot in there,” he said. “Fortunately, we were able to get to these people before any of them passed as a result.”
The heat index in the area had climbed past 100 by the early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
The nationality and age range of the smuggling victims were mostly unknown, Salazar said, but at least one victim is from Guatemala and officials believe the youngest victim is 18.
Officials responding to a possible ongoing human smuggling incident in the morning discovered a work truck hauling a gooseneck trailer loaded with corrugated pipes and being followed by a decoy vehicle, Salazar said. Surveillance from the transnational organized crime unit and aircraft support discovered people under the pipes moving and saw them arrive at the residence, he said.
“What we were able to find out is that they used that time to unload the people from the trailer,” Salazar said.
Salazar said officials discovered a hidden compartment under the pipes.
“These people were just laying down there, exposed to the elements and laying on hard mesh. … They reported being in that compartment for upwards of three hours,” he said.
When officers entered the property, several people ran away, Salazar said. Upon entering the main residence, they discovered several long rifles, guns and bulletproof vests, the sheriff said.
“I don’t know if any of those rifles were automatic or semi, but those are natural things to find at a smuggling operation like this, clearly cartel-related,” Salazar said.
Salazar said everyone who ran was believed to have been apprehended.
There was no information that connected the crime to any previous human smuggling incident, he said.
Salazar, who attended Biden’s executive order announcement Tuesday restricting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, said a reward process for people who give tips on human smuggling operations is being created.
At least one victim told officials she is from Guatemala and that she had to pay $16,000 to get to the U.S.
“This is a big money operation,” Salazar told reporters at the scene.
Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Border Patrol will take custody of the victims, who are still eligible to apply for asylum, Salazar said.
Officials were working to find the owner of the residence and whether anyone involved is tied to other human smuggling cases.
