Crime
46 Migrants Found Dead Inside Truck in Texas
The bodies of 46 dead migrants were discovered inside a tractor-trailer on Monday in San Antonio, Texas, city officials said, in one of the most deadly recent incidents of human smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.
A San Antonio Fire Department official said they found “stacks of bodies” and no signs of water in the truck, which was found next to railroad tracks in a remote area on the city’s southern outskirts.
Sixteen other people found inside the trailer were transported to hospitals for heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors, but no children were among the dead, the department said.
“The patients that we saw were hot to the touch, they were suffering from heat stroke, exhaustion,” San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told a news conference. “It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer but there was no visible working A/C unit on that rig.”
Temperatures in San Antonio, which is about 160 miles (250 km) from the Mexican border, swelled to a high of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) on Monday with high humidity.
The city’s Police Chief William McManus said a person who works in a nearby building heard a cry for help and came out to investigate. The worker found the trailer doors partially opened and looked inside and found a number of dead bodies.
McManus said this was the largest incident of its kind in the city and said three people were in custody following the incident, though their involvement is not yet clear.
A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that its Homeland Security Investigations division was investigating “an alleged human smuggling event” in coordination with local police.
The deaths once again highlight the challenge of controlling migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, which have reached record highs.
The issue has proven difficult for U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat who came into office in January 2021 pledging to reverse some of the hardline immigration policies of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump. Republicans have criticized Biden’s border strategy ahead of the midterm congressional elections in November.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the suffocation of the migrants in the truck the “tragedy in Texas” on Twitter and said consular officials would go to the hospitals where victims had been taken to help “however possible.”
A spokesman for the Honduran foreign ministry told Reuters the country’s consulates in Houston and Dallas would be investigating the incident. Ebrard said two Guatemalans were hospitalized and Guatemala’s foreign ministry said on Twitter that consular officials were going to the hospital “to verify if there are two Guatemalan minors there and what condition they are in.”
The I-35 highway near where the truck was found runs through San Antonio from the Mexican border and is a popular smuggling corridor because of the large volume of truck traffic, according to Jack Staton, a former senior official with ICE’s investigative unit who retired in December.
In July 2017, 10 migrants died after being transported in a tractor-trailer that was discovered by San Antonio police in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The driver, James Matthew Bradley, Jr., was sentenced the following year to life in prison for his role in the smuggling operation.
Staton said migrants have regularly been intercepted in the area since the 2017 incident. “It was only a matter of time before a tragedy like this was going to happen again,” he said.
Police arrest two for allegedly selling newborn twins in Lagos
The Police Command in Lagos State says it has arrested two women, Ujunwa Una and Chinelo Igbechionwu over alleged sales of newborn twins.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this in a post he shared on his X handle @benHundeyin on Friday.
He said that the police apprehended the suspects based on a tip-off by a concerned citizen.
“The suspects were arrested by patrol officers from Ojodu Division stationed at Berger bus stop, an entry point into Lagos State, who had earlier been alerted about the suspects by a good Samaritan.
“The suspects were found with two newborn baby girls, approximately six days old, while travelling from Abia State on Sept. 9.
“Investigations revealed that the suspects were en route to deliver the babies to one nurse in Lagos State whom the mother of the babies promised to link them up with only after they had arrived in Lagos.
“Upon questioning, the suspects confessed to the crime, stating that they were paid the sum of ₦150,000 for transportation of the babies to Lagos.
“The suspects added that the mother of the babies sold the babies because she could not give them proper care, ” Hundeyin said.
The image maker said that the case was transferred to the Gender Unit of the Command, from where the newborns were placed in the custody of a motherless babies’ home for proper care and medical evaluation.
According to him, an investigation is ongoing to arrest other conspirators.
The spokesperson said that the arrested suspects were arraigned on Thursday.
Police rescue kidnap victim held inside ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag
The Police Command in Rivers has rescued a teenager, who was kidnapped in Enugu and transported to Port Harcourt in a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Olatunji Disu, announced this during a news conference in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Disu said that the teenager, aged 16, was repeatedly raped by her kidnappers after being taken to Port Harcourt.
He said that the crime was uncovered when officers at Abuloma Police Station received credible intelligence regarding the suspicious movement of one of the suspects.
“Upon receiving the information, operatives were swiftly dispatched to the area, and they arrested one male suspect.
“Officers rescued the teenage girl (name withheld) who had been held against her will by the suspect.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect lured the teenager from her residence in Garki, Enugu, placed her in a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag and transported her from Enugu to Port Harcourt,” Disu said.
The police chief added that, upon arriving in Port Harcourt, the victim was taken to the residence of an alleged internet fraudster.
He said that the alleged fraudster and another suspect repeatedly had carnal knowledge of the teenager.
“The victim has undergone medical examination and treatment, while the suspects are in our custody,” he said.
Disu said that a manhunt for other suspects had been initiated.
70-year-old man bags six months in prison for stealing mats
A Shari’a Court sitting at Rigasa, Kaduna on Thursday sentenced a 70-year-old man, Jibril Musa to six months in a correctional facility for stealing mats belonging to mosques.
The Judge, Malam Mukhtar Aliyu gave the judgement after Musa pleaded guilty to the offence bordering on criminal trespass and theft.
The Judge stated that the convict had appeared before him in the past for the same offence where he was released with the condition that he would not repeat the crime.
The convict had pleaded for leniency, promising not to steal again but his prayers were not considered due to his history of theft.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Sambo Maigari stated that Aminu Al-hassan, a village head in Rigasa reported the matter at the Rigasa police division on Sept. 9.
He said that the convict entered a mosque located on Dan Galadima Road and stole the mats.
Maigari added that the man also went to another Mosque located at Bakin Dogo and stole more mats and sold them to one Aisha Abdullahi.
On her part, Abdullahi stated that she bought the mats for N1,500 without knowing they were stolen goods.
She pleaded for leniency because she had been an honest businesswoman and did not know that an old man like Musa would steal.
The Judge adjourned the matter until Sept 18 for judgment on Abdullahi
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