GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested a man wanted by the United States (US) who stands accused of leading a smuggling ring linked to the deaths of 53 migrants in a truck trailer in Texas in 2022.
“Extraditable” suspect Rigoberto Miranda, 47, was arrested after a dozen police raids in the western department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico, the Guatemalan Interior Ministry said in a statement posted to X.
Miranda is the purported leader of the “Los Orozcos” gang, which was involved in the “trafficking of immigrants to the US”, the post added.
Six other members of the group have also been arrested, though no further details were provided.
Agents from the US Department of Homeland Security took part in the operation, according to the ministry.
Guatemalan prosecutors said in a post on X that “cash, phones and vehicles” were also seized during the 12 raids.
The suspects were arrested on suspicion of illicit trafficking of persons and criminal association, prosecutors added.
“The prosecution initiated the investigation on June 27, 2022, after US authorities reported the discovery of at least 50 bodies of immigrants” inside a trailer “on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas”, the post said.
Four suspects from Mexico have also been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deaths of the migrants, who hailed from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
According to US officials, the migrants died from overheating and dehydration after travelling in an unventilated trailer. Only 11 of them survived.
When the trailer doors were opened at the end of the journey to San Antonio, 48 migrants – including a pregnant woman – were dead. The remaining 16 were later taken to hospital, where five more died.
All the arrested suspects could be sentenced to life in prison. (AFP) – Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested a man wanted by the United States (US) who stands accused of leading a smuggling ring linked to the deaths of 53 migrants in a truck trailer in Texas in 2022.
“Extraditable” suspect Rigoberto Miranda, 47, was arrested after a dozen police raids in the western department of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico, the Guatemalan Interior Ministry said in a statement posted to X.
Miranda is the purported leader of the “Los Orozcos” gang, which was involved in the “trafficking of immigrants to the US”, the post added.
Six other members of the group have also been arrested, though no further details were provided.
Agents from the US Department of Homeland Security took part in the operation, according to the ministry.
Guatemalan prosecutors said in a post on X that “cash, phones and vehicles” were also seized during the 12 raids.
The suspects were arrested on suspicion of illicit trafficking of persons and criminal association, prosecutors added.
“The prosecution initiated the investigation on June 27, 2022, after US authorities reported the discovery of at least 50 bodies of immigrants” inside a trailer “on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas”, the post said.
Four suspects from Mexico have also been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deaths of the migrants, who hailed from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
According to US officials, the migrants died from overheating and dehydration after travelling in an unventilated trailer. Only 11 of them survived.
When the trailer doors were opened at the end of the journey to San Antonio, 48 migrants – including a pregnant woman – were dead. The remaining 16 were later taken to hospital, where five more died.
All the arrested suspects could be sentenced to life in prison.
