Mexican Consulate involved after man dies in Laredo smuggling attempt

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - The Mexican consulate in Laredo is now involved in the investigation after a man died following what police describe as an apparent human-smuggling pickup in south Laredo.

Police say a group of people were waiting near a neighborhood home, attempting to stay out of sight, when a homeowner spotted them and grew suspicious. Investigators say the homeowner followed as a pickup truck drove off with the group. Shortly after, a man jumped from the moving truck and died where he landed.

The man has been identified as Jorge Alberto Barrientos Hernandez, 31.

Consul General Juan Carlos Mendoza Sánchez of the Mexican consulate in Laredo said the consulate’s next steps depend on officially confirming the identity of the deceased.

“We need to be very sure about the identity of the persons in order to start the procedure… and in order to continue with the repatriation of the remains of this person to Mexico,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza also said cases like this frequently involve dangerous conditions, particularly during summer heat, with migrants sometimes held in stash houses for days at a time.

“One is the weather… high temperatures… places… sometimes there is no air condition. And they spend in these places three or sometimes four, four days,” Mendoza said.

Laredo Police Department spokesman Joe Baeza said investigators have made one arrest connected to the pickup operation, but the driver of the truck has not been taken into custody.

“LPD crimes against persons unit investigators… they’ve gone ahead and they’ve been able to make an arrest on a person who was identified in the process of picking up people for human smuggling,” Baeza said.

Baeza said the person arrested was not the one driving the vehicle.

“Right now, the only person that was arrested was the person we arrested yesterday, but the person was not the person in charge of the vehicle,” Baeza said.

Police say the criminal investigation remains active. Investigators are still working to build a full timeline of events leading up to Barrientos Hernandez’s death, and additional answers may come with the medical examiner’s report. The reason he jumped from the moving truck has not been determined.

For more headlines, click here.