Human smuggling suspects arrested in Central Texas

Officials on Thursday found 26 migrants on a property south of San Antonio, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. Law enforcement personnel discovered the migrants in a building with no air conditioning as temperatures in the area on Thursday hit triple digits. Authorities arrested seven suspected smugglers and transported 11 migrants to hospitals for heat-related illness and other minor injuries.

How were the migrants transported? Smugglers hid the group of more than two dozen people in a compartment in a trailer. The compartment left the migrants exposed to the elements without water, Salazar said. He called the operation “clearly cartel-related” and said that officials found several bulletproof vests and long rifles on the property.

Where did the migrants come from? Authorities believe the group was transported from the border city of Laredo. At least one woman told officials that she was from Guatemala and paid $16,000 to be smuggled, but Salazar said the nationalities of the rest of the migrants are unclear. The arrests occurred two days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order to restrict asylum seekers entering the United States.