A “cloned” 18-wheeler made it easy for smugglers to pass through the border, say state officials vowing to crack down

A sweltering tractor-trailer was found near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio this week. Four men have been charged with human smuggling in the deaths of 53 migrants who were inside. (Credit: Nick Wagner for The Texas Tribune)

The right paint job and a copied federal ID number on the door.

That’s all it took for smugglers to commit identity theft of a tractor-trailer, passing it off as a hauler from a legitimate trucking company as it crossed the Texas-Mexico border — leading to the deaths of 53 migrants in San Antonio this week in what federal officials say is the most deadly migrant smuggling case in U.S. history.