The San Antonio Police Department concluded in early April an investigation that found evidence of a small fleet engaging in human trafficking of immigrant truck drivers and log book violations.
Jose De Jesus Velazquez, 35, and Juan Carlos Velazquez, 51, received charges for "Continuous Trafficking of Persons," a first degree felony in Texas, SAPD announced on Friday.
"In late 2023, #SAPD began investigating the listed suspects who owned a transportation trucking company," identified as VSR Transportation, now inactive in FMCSA's system, SAPD wrote on Facebook.
"These suspects would specifically recruit immigrants from Mexico, to work as drivers for their trucking company," SAPD continued. "The suspects would then refuse to pay the employees," while threatening their job and exploiting their immigration status "for the employees to continue working," SAPD continued.
VSR Transportation's Facebook page shows job listings in Spanish promising a rate of $.47/mile, or sometimes $1,300 a week and requiring drivers to have two years of experience. VSR seems to have mostly focused on cross-border operations.
"As owners, the suspects would also alter the driver logbook so the truck drivers would work more than the daily limit. Multiple victims have since come forward against the suspects," SAPD alleged.
"There are these laws for a reason," SAPD spokesperson Ricardo Guzman told local news outlet KENS 5. "They were being unjust to these people who were working more than mandated for truck drivers. That's not fair to people who came to the U.S. in search of work; now they're being worked for free, they can't support their families."
SAPD encourages drivers who feel they might have been victimized by these suspects to "please call the SAPD Non-Emergency number at 210-207-7273, to make a police report."
