MEXICO CITY – The Mexican federal prosecutor’s office reported on Thursday the arrest in the state of Tamaulipas, bordering the United States, of a man linked to the death of 53 migrants located in an abandoned trailer in San AntonioTexas, in June 2022.
As indicated by the department in a statement, it has already initiated criminal proceedings against him for “organized crime with the purpose of committing the crime of human trafficking.”
At least 14 people have been arrested for this crime in the United States, Guatemala and Mexico. Seven of them face charges in US courts, including Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, imprisoned in Guatemala since Augustwhen he was arrested along with six other people, and whom the United States has requested for extradition.
According to U.S. prosecutors, those primarily involved knew that the truck’s air conditioning unit was broken and would not provide fresh air to the migrants trapped inside during the sweltering three-hour journey from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio.
The temperature inside the truck reached 38°C as the migrants screamed and banged on the walls of the trailer for help or tried to claw their way out, investigators said.
When the trailer arrived in San Antonio and was finally opened, 48 migrants had already died. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more died. Among the deceased were 27 Mexicans, 14 Hondurans, seven Guatemalans and two Salvadorans.
The migrants paid the organization up to $15,000 each to cross the border. The fee would cover up to three attempts to enter the United States.
