53 migrants dead in Texas: Man awaiting deportation to US arrested in Guatemala

U.S. officials on Thursday welcomed the arrests in Guatemala of seven suspects in the 2022 probe into the deaths of 53 migrants in an overheated truck in Texas, saying they hoped to extradite one of them to be prosecuted in the United States.

• Read more: Guatemala: Dismantling the Migrant Smuggling Network

Guatemala’s interior ministry announced on Wednesday the arrest of seven people allegedly involved in migrant smuggling that led to the tragedy, including Ricardo Miranda-Orozco, 47, who is said to be the leader of a gang.

He is the subject of an extradition request from the United States, the ministry said, highlighting the participation of agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in these law enforcement operations.

“For two years, the Department of Justice has been systematically working to hold accountable those responsible for the horrific tragedy that claimed the lives of 53 people exploited by human traffickers,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Seven other people, two Americans and five Mexicans, have already been arrested in the United States, including the driver of an abandoned semi-trailer found by migrants in San Antonio in June 2022.

AFP

“Four of these defendants have already pleaded guilty. The other three are scheduled to be arraigned on October 21,” federal prosecutor Jaime Esparza said at a press conference in San Antonio on Thursday.

The driver, Homero Zamorano, was arrested at the scene shortly after, and two Mexicans were arrested in June 2023, accused of belonging to a network of smugglers and allegedly arranging the return of the vehicle.

Of the seven people arrested in Guatemala, six will face trial in the country and remain in the U.S. after Ricardo Miranda-Orozco’s extradition is completed, U.S. Justice officials announced.

“He faces up to life in prison,” said Mr. Esparza underlined.

According to the indictment made public on Wednesday, more than sixty migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, including eight children and a pregnant woman, were loaded into a semi-trailer on June 27, 2022, when the air conditioning system did not work.

Among these passengers, the investigation made it possible to establish a connection between Ricardo Miranda-Orozco and “four of his kidnapping clients who found themselves in this semi-trailer, three of whom died,” explained Assistant Federal Prosecutor Eric Fuchs.

According to the indictment, each migrant had to pay the organizers of this secret passage between 12,000 and 15,000 dollars.

During the trip between the border and San Antonio, some of the occupants called for help or knocked on walls to no avail as the temperature in the vehicle rose, U.S. Department of Justice officials said.

In all, 53 people died, 48 before arriving in San Antonio and five were hospitalized, according to the indictment.

Survivors suffered from hyperthermia and severe dehydration.