Arrests made after 53 migrants died in Texas in 2022, left in a sultry truck have now risen to more than a dozen and extended into Central America, after years of investigation into the deadliest smuggling attempt on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Guatemalan officials announced the arrests of seven people accused of helping smuggle migrants, including the alleged leader of a smuggling operation whose extradition the United States has requested, Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told The Associated Press.
The Justice Department was scheduled to hold a news conference in San Antonio on Thursday to discuss a “significant” arrest in the case, but did not provide details.
Jiménez said the arrests were made after 13 raids in three departments of the country. Police also seized vehicles and cash and rescued other migrants during the operations, Guatemalan officials said in a statement.
“This is a joint effort between the Guatemalan Police and Homeland Security, among other national agencies, to dismantle human trafficking structures, one of the strategic objectives of President Bernardo Arévalo to tackle the phenomenon of irregular migration,” Jiménez said.
Six people were previously charged.
Among them are Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities say was driving the truck, and Christian Martinez, who arrested shortly afterwards the migrants were found. Both are from Texas. Martinez has since pleaded guilty to smuggling-related charges, while Zamorano has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
In 2023, four Mexicans were also arrested.
Authorities said the men knew the air conditioning in the trailer was defective and did not blow 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 opened in San Antonio, 48 migrants were already dead. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more people died. The dead included 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador.
Authorities allege the men worked with human traffickers in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and shared routes, guides, warehouses, trucks and trailers, some of which were parked in a private parking lot in San Antonio.
Migrants paid the agency up to $15,000 per person to cross the border, a fee that would cover up to three attempts to enter the country.
The arrests in Guatemala include Rigoberto Román Mirnado Orozco, the alleged leader, who was arrested in the department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico. The other arrests were made in the departments of Huehuetenango and Jalapa.
According to officials, several of those arrested are related and share the surname Orozco.
Guatemalan officials accuse the group of harboring 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.
