10 Undocumented Aliens Die After Riding Inside Trailer Without Ventilation

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

San Antonio, Texas Police Department reports that 10 undocumented aliens who were riding inside an 18 Wheeler Tractor-Trailer from Laredo, Texas to San Antonio have died from heat exposure and asphyxiation, eight at the scene of a Walmart parking lot and two at local hospitals, while another 29 people were hospitalized in several hospitals within San Antonio.

The truck driver of the 18 Wheeler Tractor-Trailer, James Matthew Bradley, Jr., was arrested by the San Antonio Police Department on July 23, 2017 and later transferred custody to the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.  Bradley has been charged with federal charges in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of transporting and moving for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain of approximately 39 undocumented aliens resulting in the death of 10 undocumented aliens.

If found guilty, Bradley faces a maximum sentence of death penalty or life in prison, five years of community supervision, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and an additional special assessment of $5,000 under the 2015 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.

Bradley is currently being held without a bond and is scheduled to appear on Thursday, July 27, 2017, before a United States Magistrate Judge in San Antonio, Texas for preliminary and detention hearings.

The fatal incident was described as a case of human trafficking by San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.

Among the 39 undocumented aliens found in the trailer, 25 are Mexican Nationals according to the Mexican Consulate Office in San Antonio.  Four Mexican Nationals were among the 10 dead.  At least three undocumented aliens are from Guatemala and the others from various countries.

Bradley told investigators that he did not know there were human beings inside the trailer until he arrived and parked at a Walmart parking lot in southern San Antonio to go urinate, hearing “banging and shaking in the trailer.”  Bradley told investigators that “he went to open the doors and was surprised when he was run over by ‘Spanish’ people and knocked to the ground.”  Bradley further told investigators that “he then noticed bodies just lying on the floor like meat….and that he knew at least one of them was dead.”  Bradley told investigators that “he knew the trailer refrigeration system didn’t work and that the four vent holes were probably clogged up.”

Bradley told investigators that “approximately 30-40 people ran and scattered out of the trailer after he opened the doors.  He said they mostly ran trough the parking lot and a few just stayed in the grass area.”  Bradley told investigators that “no one else was in the area and no vehicles were there to pick up the passengers.”

Bradley told investigators that he was hauling the trailer to Brownsville, Texas because it had been sold to a new owner.  He was driving from Schaller, Iowa to Brownsville, Texas. Bradley drove to Laredo, Texas where he stopped at a truck-stop in Laredo, Texas at mile marker 13 on IH-35 and had the trailer washed.  He then won to another truck-stop at Mile Marker 3 on IH-35 where he had the trailer detailed and polished.  After getting the tractor-trailer washed and detailed in Laredo, Texas, Bradley drove to San Antonio, Texas (instead of Brownsville, Texas).

According to the Criminal Complaint filed by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent James Lara, one of the undocumented aliens interviewed stated that he was from Aguascalientes, Mexico and had traveled to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to be smuggled in a group of 28 aliens into the United States and was to pay the sum of $5,500 U.S. Dollars once he arrived in San Antonio, Texas.  The Aguascalientes undocumented alien stated that “there were already about 70 people inside” the trailer. He added that smugglers told him to get inside the trailer and that he would be transported later that evening.  The smugglers closed the door of the trailer and it was pitch black inside and hot. He added that they were not provided with any water or food.  At approximately 9 P.M. on July 22, 2017, “someone opened the rear door of the trailer and told them that they would be leaving and provided each group with a different color to tape to identify to the waiting smugglers which group they would be picking up at a destination.   The man also told them that the trailer had refrigeration and not to worry about the trip.”  He added that “people inside were making noise to get someone’s attention but nobody ever came.”

The Aguascalientes undocumented alien told investigators that for the first hour of the trip, “everyone seemed to be ok. Later, people started having trouble breathing and some started to pass out. People began hitting the trailer walls and making noise to get the driver’s attention.   The driver never stopped. People had a hole in the trailer wall to provide some ventilation and they started taking turns breathing from the hole.”  Once they arrived,”the driver braked hard and people inside fell over because they were so weak.  The rear doors were opened and people started to swarm out.  Six black SUVs were waiting to pick up the people.   The SUVs were full in a matter of minutes and left right away.”

Another undocumented alien who was hospitalized told investigators that “he was traveling with a group of seven distant relatives and their destination was San Antonio, Texas. He stated his group had 24 people and had been in a ‘stash house’ in Laredo, Texas for 11 days.  He stated when his group arrived at the tractor-trailer there were already approximately 70 people in the trailer and it was very hot.”

A third undocumented alien that was hospitalized told investigators that he was traveling with his brother from Mexico and crossed through Laredo, Texas and that he had paid $60,0000 Mexican Pesos for the Mexican portion of his trip to the United States….He stated he thought there were approximately 180-200 people in the tractor-trailer when he got in.”

The case remains under investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and San Antonio Police Department.