Guatemalan police arrest 7 accused of human trafficking with 53 migrants who suffocated in 2022

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Guatemalan police arrested seven Guatemalans on Wednesday accused of smuggling 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America who died of asphyxiation in Texas in 2022 after left behind in a semi-trailer in the scorching summer heat.

These were the latest arrests after years of investigations into deadliest tragedy of migrants who were smuggled across the border from Mexico. Among the dead were eight children.

Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told the Associated Press that the arrests were made after 13 raids in three departments of the country. Among those arrested was Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, the suspected leader of the smuggling gang, whose extradition the United States has requested.

The police also confiscated vehicles and cash during their operations and rescued other migrants, a statement said.

“This is a joint effort by the Guatemalan police and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as other national authorities, to dismantle the structures of human trafficking. This is one of the strategic objectives of President Bernardo Arévalo to control the phenomenon of irregular migration,” said Jiménez.

Six people were already charged.

Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities said was driving the truck, and Christian Martinez were arrested shortly afterwards The migrants were found. Both are from Texas. Martinez later pleaded guilty to smuggling charges. Zamorano pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Four Mexican citizens were also arrested in 2023.

Authorities said the men were aware that the air conditioning in the trailer was not working properly and was not providing cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the three-hour drive from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio in sweltering heat.

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 said the men worked with human smuggling organizations in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, sharing routes, guides, hideouts, trucks and trailers, some of which were parked in a private parking lot in San Antonio.

Each migrant paid the organization up to $15,000 to be taken across the U.S. border. The fee was enough for up to three attempts to enter the country.

Orozco, the alleged leader of the gang, was arrested in the Guatemalan department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico. The other arrests were made in the departments of Huehuetenango and Jalapa. Police identified the gang as “Los Orozcos” because several of those arrested are family members and have that surname.

“The organization in question has illegally housed and transferred hundreds of migrants of various nationalities to the United States, earning millions of quetzales (the national currency) over the course of its several years of activity,” the Guatemalan government said.

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Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno contributed to this report from Austin, Texas.