Arrests in fatal Texas smuggling attempt climb 2 years after 53 migrants died in tractor trailer

Arrests following the 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in Texas who were left in a sweltering tractor-trailer have climbed to more than a dozen, and now stretch to Central America, following years of investigations into the deadliest smuggling attempt from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Guatemalan officials announced the arrests of seven people accused of helping smuggle the migrants. They included the alleged ringleader of a smuggling operation whose extradition has been requested by the United States, Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told The Associated Press.

The Justice Department was scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday in San Antonio to discuss a “significant” arrest in the case but did not provide details.

Jiménez said the arrests were made possible after 13 raids in three of the country’s departments. Police also seized vehicles and cash and rescued other migrants during the operations, Guatemalan officials 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.

Six people were charged previously.

They include Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities say drove the truck, and Christian Martinez, who were arrested shortly after the migrants were found. Both are from Texas. Martinez has since pleaded guilty to smuggling-related charges, while Zamorano pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Four Mexican nationals were also arrested in 2023.

Authorities say 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 allege 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 border. The fee would cover up to three attempts to get into the country.

The arrests in Guatemala include Rigoberto Román Mirnado Orozco, the alleged ringleader, who was arrested in the department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico. The other arrests occurred in Huehuetenango and Jalapa departments.

Several of those arrested are related and carry the Orozco surname, officials said.

Guatemalan officials accuse the group of housing and transferring hundreds of migrants to the United States over several years.

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Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas, and Pérez from Guatemala City.