SAN ANTONIO – The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of seven people in connection with the smuggling case that left 53 migrants dead inside an abandoned trailer in San Antonio, Texas.
Among those arrested is Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, the alleged leader of the smuggling gang whose extradition has been requested by the United States.
Guatemalan police also posted on social media that they confiscated vehicles and cash. They also reported that officers rescued other migrants during the operations.
Orozco, the alleged ringleader, 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 the detainees are relatives and have that surname.
What is known about the “horror trailer”?
According to authorities, the migrants were from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras and were allegedly abandoned by smugglers in the back of a truck, without water or air, in suffocating temperatures.
That day in San Antonio the temperature reached 101 degrees, turning the trailer into an oven with temperatures of up to 140 degrees.
According to police, the migrants boarded the trailer in Laredo, Texas, and passed through two Border Patrol checkpoints without being detected. They eventually reached Quintana Street south of the city where they were abandoned to their fate.
As for the judicial process, six people were previously charged with the crime.
Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities say was driving the truck, and Christian Martinez were arrested shortly after the migrants were found.
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 knew the trailer’s air conditioning unit was malfunctioning and was not blowing cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the sweltering three-hour drive 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. Among the dead were 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador.
Authorities have alleged the men worked in human trafficking operations in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, and shared routes, guides, stash houses, trucks and trailers, some of which were stored in 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 enter the country.
