3 Face Charges in Boxcar Deaths; One Held in El Paso
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DALLAS — Officials filed charges Friday against three Mexicans said to belong to a smuggling ring linked to the deaths of 18 illegal aliens in a locked boxcar.
One of the men was being held without bond Friday in the El Paso County Jail, but authorities believe the other two have fled to Mexico.
Arturo Hernandez Garcia was arrested Wednesday in Dallas on charges of transporting and encouraging aliens to enter the United States illegally, Ronald Chandler of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said.
Hernandez Garcia is the brother of Enrique Hernandez Garcia, 33, known as “El Chapulin” or “the Grasshopper,” who authorities say locked the boxcar door before the train left El Paso on July 1.
Enrique Hernandez Garcia faces 18 counts each of transporting aliens and of concealing aliens, and two counts of conspiracy, Chandler said. Another suspect, Manuel Hernandez Hernandez, was charged with conspiracy, transporting and concealing aliens, he said.
Only one of the 19 men in the boxcar survived the estimated 130-degree heat.
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