EAGLE PASS, Texas — Maverick County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call from citizens reporting banging coming from an abandoned semi-trailer on the city’s outskirts early Wednesday morning. Upon arrival, deputies found 26 migrants sealed inside the abandoned trailer, gasping for air. The migrants had been loaded into the trailer by unknown persons who had fled the scene before the arrival of law enforcement authorities.
Sheriff Tom Schmerber told Breitbart that Texas interviews conducted at the time of the rescue indicate the migrants were brought to the trailer in small groups in preparation for the longer trip to San Antonio. Eagle Pass is 157 miles southwest of San Antonio. At the time of the discovery, the temperature outside the trailer was slightly above 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The trailer parking area is approximately three miles from the international boundary between Mexico and the United States. Schmerber says the migrants who had spent the greater amount of time sealed in the trailer began to beat on the walls and scream for help.
Several migrants were transported to a local hospital for medical attention and were subsequently treated and released to the Border Patrol. Authorities say the migrants were from Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Central America. According to Sheriff Schmerber, the migrants were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol, and the incident will be investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The incident is reminiscent of the tragic June 2022 incident in San Antonio, Texas, that claimed the lives of 53 migrants. In that human smuggling event, 65 migrants were discovered in a semi-tractor trailer after smugglers abandoned the vehicle near an industrial park outside the city. At the time of discovery, 48 migrants were found dead inside the sweltering trailer. Five migrants died at local medical facilities within days of the event.
Thus far, four suspects have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the deadliest human smuggling event in the United States. A Guatemalan national, Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, was arrested in relation to the San Antonio smuggling event in Guatemala in August. The Department of Justice announced his arrest after the conclusion of a joint enforcement effort with Guatemalan authorities, resulting in the arrest of Miranda, who is suspected of smuggling 21 Guatemalan nationals in the deadly 2022 event. Miranda is alleged to have charged some of the victims between $12,000 and $15,000 to traffic the migrants to the United States.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.