have died,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Spears said at the hearing in San Antonio’s federal court. “Some are still in the hospital. This defendant helped coordinate that incident, and not only did he do it on one occasion, this defendant has done it on multiple occasions, according to his own admission.”
Agents are investigating whether any of the migrants were held in a Laredo warehouse before being loaded into trailers. Survivors have said the trailer appeared to have bullion or a spice sprinkled in it, and former agents said that is a common tactic used by smugglers to throw off police dogs from discovering the human cargo.
Martinez allegedly worked with another driver, Daniel Chavez, 29, of San Antonio. Chavez was caught about 8:45 p.m. on March 30 at the Border Patrol checkpoint north of Laredo when a police dog reacted to an 18-wheeler he was driving. Agents opened up the trailer and found 107 immigrants inside. They also noted the temperature in the trailer was 98 degrees.