Update: 2 men charged in connection with deaths of 51 migrants found inside sweltering semitruck in San Antonio

 

 Two men have been charged in connection with the deaths of 51 migrants who were found in sweltering conditions in a semitruck in San Antonio, according to criminal complaints filed in US District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao have been charged with "possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the United States," according to the criminal complaints that were filed Monday, the same day the migrants were found. Authorities were able to locate the men after responding to the semi-truck incident, according to the affidavit.

"Officers researched the Texas registration plate on the semi-truck and found a residence in San Antonio, Texas as the truck's registered address with Texas motor vehicle records," the affidavit said.
The San Antonio Police Department set up surveillance at the residence "and observed a Ford F-250 leave the residence with a single Hispanic male driving." The man was identified as D'Luna-Bilbao, who had a firearm in the console, the affidavit said.
At the same home, authorities saw another truck whose driver -- a younger man -- was identified as D'Luna-Mendez.
Both men are Mexican nationals residing in the US illegally, the affidavits said. CNN has been unable to determine if either man has an attorney.
On Monday, authorities were alerted to the scene just before 6 p.m., when a worker in a nearby building heard a cry for help, said Police Chief Bill McManus. The worker found a trailer with doors partially opened and saw people deceased inside, he said.
The truck went Monday through a checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, said US Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a district including Laredo and San Antonio, which are about 150 miles apart. Cuellar spoke Tuesday with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and has been in touch with US Border Patrol, he told CNN.
Felipe Betancourt Jr., a co-owner of Betancourt Trucking and Harvesting in Alamo, Texas, told CNN Tuesday the semitruck used the same federal and state identifying numbers as one of his vehicles. He said images of the truck show it was displaying his company's federal Department of Transportation number and the Texas DOT identifying numbers from one of his trucks. This was first reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
Betancourt said the truck in San Antonio, which is the same color as his red Volvo semi, is not owned by his company. A search of the US DOT and Texas DOT numbers posted on the truck found in San Antonio showed they numbers have been registered to Betancourt's company.
"We are not linked at all to that truck," Betancourt said. "We don't know who owns that vehicle."
The death toll includes migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, according to a federal law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The medical examiner's office has identified potentially 34 of 51 victims, Precinct 1 Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores said during a news conference Tuesday. The county medical examiner has also asked for assistance from medical examiner offices in neighboring counties due to the large number of victims.
Forty-eight people died on the scene, and two died at hospitals, the federal law enforcement official told CNN on Tuesday, noting the toll is preliminary.
Sixteen people -- 12 adults and four children -- were taken alive and conscious to medical facilities, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said at Monday night's news conference.
"This is the worst human-smuggling event in the United States. This sheds light on how dangerous human smuggling is," said Craig Larrabee, Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio acting special agent in charge.
"In the past, smuggling organizations were mom and pop. Now they are organized and tied in with the cartels. So you have a criminal organization who has no regard for the safety of the migrants. They are treated like commodities rather than people," he told CNN in a phone interview.
The discovery came as US federal authorities launched what they described as an "unprecedented" operation to disrupt human smuggling networks amid an influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border.
Three people have been detained and are in police custody, though their connection to the situation is unclear, Police Chief Bill McManus said at a news conference Monday night. It is unclear if the two men charged are a part of the three people detained.