This story has been updated.
Officials found 26 human smuggling victims in “miserable” and “blazing hot” conditions Thursday inside a shack in South Bexar County. Authorities said at least 12 victims were transported to area hospitals for minor injuries and heat-related illnesses.
Eleven of the human smuggling victims have been discharged from the hospital, officials said Friday. One migrant remains hospitalized for dehydration and cardiac related issues, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Half a dozen 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 sheriff’s office announced Friday that 39-year-old Abelardo Herrera, 36-year-old Rafael Mendoza and 28-year-old Cristobal Eduardo Deleon face 26 counts of human smuggling and engaging in organized criminal activity; 23-year-old Mario Enrique Elizondo, 30-year-old Vanessa Castillo and 45-year-old Ismael Hernandez are charged with operating a stash house and engaging in organized criminal activity, and 21-year-old Jose Marvin Hernandez is charged with evading arrest.
All suspects were booked into the Bexar County Jail on their charges. The suspects’ vehicles that remained on the property were seized by investigators, according to the sheriff’s office.
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.
Of the 26 smuggling victims, 20 are males and six are female between 18 and 54 years old. They are from Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela and Guatemala, according to BCSO.
University Health posted on social media on Friday that all the patients hospitalized are 18 years or older and are now in good or fair condition.
“One patient from the migrant trafficking operation remains in our care,” University Health posted Friday. “The other 11 patients have been discharged.”
Officials responding to a possible ongoing human smuggling incident Thursday 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.
