Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested a man who has been requested for extradition by the United States, accused of leading a network linked to the deaths of 53 migrants in 2022, in the trailer of a truck.
The Interior Ministry said on social media X that Rigoberto Miranda, 47, was arrested after a dozen raids in the western department of San Marcos, bordering Mexico.
The “captured extraditable” is the “leader” of the “Los Orozcos” gang, dedicated to “trafficking migrants to the United States,” the institution added. Another six members of the “dismantled” group were arrested, although no further details were given.
The Attorney General’s Office and the Army, as well as U.S. agents from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency, also participated in the operations, according to the Ministry.
Meanwhile, the Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office stated in X that during the twelve raids “cash, telephones and vehicles” were also seized.
They face a possible life sentence
The detainees are accused of the crimes of human trafficking and criminal association, he said.
“The Prosecutor’s Office began the investigation on its own initiative on June 27, 2022, after United States authorities reported the discovery of at least 50 immigrant bodies” inside a trailer “on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas,” he added.
Four Mexicans have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deaths of 53 migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
According to US authorities, the migrants died from hyperthermia and acute dehydration while travelling in an unventilated trailer. Only 11 survived.
When the smugglers opened the trailer doors at the end of a nearly three-hour journey to San Antonio, 48 migrants, including a pregnant woman, were dead. Sixteen were taken to hospitals, but five of them died.
Those arrested could face life imprisonment in the United States.
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