‘There was a failure there:’ Owner of Valley trucking company speaks out on deadly human smuggling attempt
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The owner of a Valley trucking company said the truck used in the failed smuggling attempt that killed 53 migrants near San Antonio should have been caught at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.
The truck used in the incident was reportedly cloned from Betancourt Trucking and Harvesting - a trucking company based in Alamo. The owner of that company said the decals on the side of the truck with the company’s name are fake.
Chris Fann, owner of C Fann Transportation, said the decals should’ve been enough to be flagged at a checkpoint.
“It's not a speculation, if they did not check that license plate's registration, and it didn't trigger what was on the side of that truck, there was a failure there,” Fann said. “If the license plate readers would have read that truck, and it did not match what was on the side of it - that is a red flag. It should have triggered a further investigation of that truck.”
The Mexican government previously said the truck traveled from Laredo to San Antonio through the I-35 checkpoint.
Channel 5 News reached out to the Laredo Sector Border Patrol for comment, who directed all questions to Homeland Security Investigations. They have yet to respond.
“It's a horrible event, and every time we've had to talk about this it's usually around a loss of life,” Fann said. “There has to be changes in policies and procedures that go far beyond the trucking industry."