San Antonio Standard

The bodies of eight Mexican migrants who died in a human smuggling incident returned to Mexico July 13.

The repatriation effort comes after 53 migrants died of heatstroke and dehydration June 27 after being trapped in a tractor trailer outside San Antonio, according to ABC News.

"The bodies of Mexican migrants who died inside a semi-truck in Texas are on their way home. The Mexican air force started the repatriation Wednesday," Darian Trotter-Thomas, Fox-29 anchor and reporter, wrote in a tweet July 14.

The Mexican air force transported the bodies to an airport near Mexico City, ABC News reported. They are the first to be repatriated following the tragedy.

The Mexican military is planning future trips to San Antonio to transport 17 additional Mexican citizens who were victims of the tragedy back to Mexico, ABC News reported. Of the 26 Mexican victims, only one will remain in the United States. The families of the dead include residents of Guanajuato, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Mexico, Zacatecas, Queretaro, Morelos, and Mexico City.

The migrants were deprived of water and air conditioning and likely died as temperatures rose to 103 degrees Fahrenheit, Reuters reported.

Two suspects—both Mexican nationals—have been arrested and charged in U.S. federal court, after local authorities identified them as the owners of the truck, according to Reuters. Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez face charges of possessing firearms while living in the U.S. illegally.

Homero Zamorano Jr.—the truck driver, who is a U.S. citizen—has also been detained and will likely be charged by federal authorities, Reuters reported. When confronted by San Antonio Police, officers believed Zamorano was under the influence of a substance. Two sources confirmed Zamorano was under the influence of methamphetamine to Reuters: Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) and an official from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of the investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said the incident is the greatest recorded loss of human life from a human trafficking attempt within America’s borders, Reuters reported. Police found “stacks of bodies” inside the trailer, and located other bodies strewn around nearby. They noted that some victims were hot to the touch, likely indicating dehydration or heat stroke.

“Human smuggling is the precursor of human trafficking,” said Texas Public Policy Foundation Policy Scholar, Selene Rodriguez, in an interview with the Austin Journal. “People who conspire with human smugglers to illegally enter the United States typically incur thousands of dollars of debt to make the trip. After entering the country illegally, these same people are often forced to pay off that debt through forced labor and sexual exploitation, which is the essence of the modern-day slavery that is human trafficking.”