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Article snippet: SAN ANTONIO — In one truck, the migrants crouched in the dark in a three-foot crevice between the trailer’s ceiling and the top of medical-supply boxes. In another, smugglers crammed 73 men, women and children into a trailer filled with rotting watermelons, to try to disguise their scent for Border Patrol dogs. Sometimes, the trailers are comfortable, or as comfortable as a human-cargo operation can be, with water, ventilation and even refrigeration to keep everyone cool. But just as often, especially in the South Texas heat, they can become inhumane. One group of trapped migrants cut their hands trying to rip insulation from a trailer’s door to try to get some air and left bloody handprints. Others drank their own urine when their water supply went out. Luciano Alcocer, 56, still vividly recalls his 12-hour trip from Chaparral, N.M., to Dallas packed into an unventilated trailer in 2002. Two immigrants died, and Mr. Alcocer thought he would, too. “I thought my final moment had arrived,” he said. “We were desperate. We were like chickens spinning on a rotisserie.” Last Sunday, a thirsty immigrant’s request for water at a Walmart in San Antonio led to the discovery, in the parking lot, of the deadliest truck-smuggling operation in the United States in more than a decade. Ten of the 39 people found in or near the truck died, and others were hospitalized, some with brain damage. The case has cast a harsh light on a practice known for its cruelty. But it also showed ... Link to the full article to read more