The abandoned truck carrying migrants across the southern border in a failed smuggling job that left 53 people dead had successfully passed a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in America, an anonymous official told Associated Press. The suffocating tractor-trailer had passed through a checkpoint on Interstate 35, about 26 miles inland from the border town of Laredo. Smugglers are believed to have monitored the checkpoint and scheduled their passage to take advantage of a shift change, when traffic was reduced, a source close to the investigation told San Antonio Express-News. Citing the anonymous official, AP also reported that there were a total of 73 people in the trailer when authorities arrived Monday at the scene of an unimaginable horror in San Antonio. It was unclear if the truck had stopped at the U.S. checkpoint or if it had been allowed to run without a thorough inspection. Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, appeared in court Thursday on charges of being the driver; he will potentially face the death penalty if convicted of his contraband charge.
Read it in the Associated Press