GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested a suspect accused of having smuggled 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America who died of asphyxiation in 2022 in San Antonio after being abandoned in a tractor trailer in the scorching summer heat.
This was the latest arrest after years of investigation into the deadliest tragedy of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. The dead included eight children.
Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told The Associated Press the arrest was made possible after 13 raids in three of the country’s departments. They arrested Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, the alleged ringleader of the smuggling gang whose extradition has been requested by the United States.
On Thursday, the United States Department of Justice referred to Miranda-Orozco as an alleged "member" of the human smuggling organization.
"In the weeks leading up to the June 2022 operation, Miranda-Orozco secured payments for migrants who are citizens of Guatemala and then worked with his coconspirators to smuggle and transport the migrants north from Guatemala," said Nicole Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and head of the DOJ's Criminal Division.
Six other people were arrested in Guatemala who were allegedly a part of the same organization as Miranda-Orozco. The DOJ says that the organization which operated out of Guatemala put 65 people in the tractor-trailer in 2022.
"We can link and have charged Mr. Miranda-Orozco with four migrants that he specifically originated and coordinated the transportation of three of who ended up perishing," said Eric Fuchs, Assistant U.S. Attorney.
He was arrested in the Guatemalan department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico. The other arrests occurred in the departments of Huehuetenango and Jalapa. The police identified the gang as “Los Orozcos” because several of those arrested are family members and carry that surname.
“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,” said the Guatemalan government.
Only Miranda-Orozco is being extradited into the United States.
"They’re based around the same facts, but the Guatemalans are going to prosecute the folks that that they have the best evidence on, and we're going to prosecute the folks that we have the best evidence on," said Ian Hanna, Co-Director of United States Joint Task Force Alpha.
Guatemalan police also seized vehicles and cash and rescued other migrants during the operations, they said in a statement.
“This is a collaborative effort between the Guatemalan police and Homeland Security, in addition to other national agencies, to dismantle the structures of human trafficking, one of the strategic objectives of the government President Bernardo Arévalo in order to take on the phenomenon of irregular migration,” Jiménez said.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza says seven people were previously charged, including four who have already plead guilty. Three people await trial, which is set for October this year.
Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities say drove the truck, and Christian Martinez were arrested shortly after the migrants were found. Both are from Texas. Martinez later pleaded guilty to smuggling-related charges. Zamorano pleaded not guilty to smuggling-related charges and is awaiting trial. Four Mexican nationals were also arrested in 2023.
Authorities have said the men were aware that the trailer’s air-conditioning unit was malfunctioning and would not blow cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the sweltering, three-hour ride from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio.
When the trailer was opened in San Antonio, 48 migrants were already dead. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more died. The dead included 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador.
Authorities have alleged that the men worked with human smuggling operations in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, and shared routes, guides, stash houses, trucks and trailers, some of which were stored at a private parking lot in San Antonio.
Migrants paid the organization up to $15,000 each to be taken across the U.S. border. The fee would cover up to three attempts to get into the country.
Miranda-Orozco is charged with six counts related to migrant smuggling resulting in death or serious bodily injury. He faces maximum penalties of life in prison.