26 migrants smuggled in sweltering caravan discovered near San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — Seven people in South Texas have been charged with endangering nearly two dozen migrants smuggled into a secret trailer compartment in hot weather and with little water, authorities said. One person remained hospitalized Friday.

Following a report of a smuggling operation, Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputies discovered 26 migrants Thursday morning at a residence near San Antonio that Sheriff Javier Salazar called a “shack” with holes in the ground and without water.

Salazar said he did not know when the migrants crossed the border, but he believed they were driven to the area from the border city of Laredo, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) away.

The migrants had been in the caravan's secret compartment for three hours, Salazar said. Temperatures in San Antonio were in the 90s Thursday afternoon and were expected to exceed 100, according to the National Weather Service.

Seven men aged 21 to 45 were arrested and face criminal charges including human trafficking, engaging in organized criminal activity, operating a hideout and escape.

Twelve people were initially sent to the hospital for minor heat-related injuries, but as of Friday, only one migrant remained hospitalized due to dehydration and “heart issues,” according to a news release issued Friday.

The people smuggled were from Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela and Guatemala and ranged in age from 18 to 54 years old. Six of them were women.

San Antonio was the scene of the nation's deadliest human trafficking episode in June 2022, when 53 migrants, including eight children, died after being trapped in a sweltering tractor-trailer driven from Laredo.

In June 2017, 10 immigrants died and nearly 20 were hospitalized after being found in a tractor-trailer at a San Antonio Walmart.

This trailer had a faulty air conditioning unit. When authorities discovered it on a remote San Antonio road, 48 migrants were already dead and five more died later in hospitals.