Guatemala City — Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested seven Guatemalans accused in the smuggling of 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America who died of asphyxiation in 2022 in Texas after being abandoned in a tractor trailer in scorching summer heat.
They were the latest arrests after years of investigation into the deadliest tragedy of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico.
They included Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, the alleged ringleader of the smuggling gang whose extradition has been requested by the United States.
Police also seized vehicles and cash and rescued other migrants during the operations, they said in a statement.
Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities say drove the truck, and Christian Martinez were arrested shortly after the migrants were found.
When the trailer was opened in San Antonio, 48 migrants were already dead.
Orozco, the alleged ringleader, was arrested in the Guatemalan department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico.
The police identified the gang as “Los Orozcos” because several of those arrested are family members and carry that surname.
Guatemala City — Seven Guatemalans were detained by Guatemalan police on Wednesday. The migrants were suspected of smuggling 53 people from Mexico and Central America, who were left in a tractor trailer in the intense summer heat and eventually died of asphyxiation in Texas in 2022.
These arrests marked the culmination of years of investigation into the deadliest incident involving migrants who were smuggled from Mexico across the border. Among the deceased were eight kids.
13 raids across three departments of the nation, according to Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez, allowed for the arrests, he told The Associated Press. Among them was Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, the man the US has asked for extradition as the alleged leader of the smuggling gang.
In the course of the operations, police also confiscated cars and money and saved other migrants, according to a statement.
“One of the strategic objectives of the government President Bernardo Arévalo is to combat the phenomenon of irregular migration, and to that end, the Guatemalan police, Homeland Security, and other national agencies are working together to dismantle the structures of human trafficking,” Jiménez stated.
There had been six charges previously.
Zamorano Homero Jr. Christian Martinez, who the police claim was the truck’s driver, and the migrants were taken into custody not long after. They are both native Texans. Martinez later entered a guilty plea to charges pertaining to smuggling. Zamorano is awaiting trial after entering a not guilty plea to charges pertaining to smuggling. In 2023, four citizens of Mexico were also taken into custody.
U. s. In a statement at the time, Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “Human smugglers prey on migrants’ hope for a better life — but their only priority is profit.”. This vicious plan tragically resulted in the deaths of 53 individuals who had been put into a tractor-trailer in Texas and subjected to hours of unspeakable abuse. Human traffickers who violate our laws and endanger the lives of others in order to make money cannot remain hidden for long because we will track them down and prosecute them. “.
According to authorities, the men knew that during the hot three-hour ride from the border city of Laredo, Texas to San Antonio, the trailer’s air conditioning unit was broken and wouldn’t blow cold air to the migrants inside.
In San Antonio, 48 migrants had already passed away when the trailer was opened. Five more people passed away after 16 more people were admitted to hospitals. There were twenty-seven Mexicans among the dead, fourteen Hondurans, seven Guatemalans, and two El Salvadorians.
The men allegedly shared routes, guides, stash houses, trucks, and trailers—some of which were kept in a private parking lot in San Antonio—with human smuggling operations operating in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, according to the authorities.
The organization was paid up to $15,000 by migrants to transport them throughout the U.S. s. the border. Three attempts to enter the nation would be covered by the fee.
The suspected ringleader, Orozco, was taken into custody in the San Marcos department of Guatemala, which is close to the Mexican border. The departments of Huehuetenango and Jalapa saw the other arrests. Because several of the people arrested are family members and have that surname, the police were able to identify the gang as “Los Orozcos.”.
The Guatemalan government claimed that “said organization illegally housed and transferred hundreds of migrants of different nationalities to the United States, collecting millions of quetzales (the national currency) through several years of operation.”.
