Global Courant
A year after 53 people, including six children, were killed in an abandoned sweltering semi-trailer near San Antonio during an alleged smuggling attempt, the Justice Department announced it has charged and arrested four men over the incident.
Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, Felipe Orduna-Torres, Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal and Armando Gonzales-Ortega were all arrested and charged on various charges, including conspiracy and alien smuggling resulting in death, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
The four men, along with three other suspects, Homero Zamorano and Christian Martinez who had previously been charged and arrested, and a seventh unidentified suspect, were believed to have participated in a people-smuggling organization that attempted to bring 66 people to the United States on June 27, 2022. said.
In this archive photo from June 27, 2022, police and other first responders work at the scene where dozens of people were found dead and several others were taken to hospitals after a trailer carrying suspected migrants was found in San Antonio.
Eric Gay/AP, FILE
The migrants and their families, a majority from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, paid between $12,000 and $15,000 each to enter the country, the indictment said.
The indictment details how the men allegedly collaborated to use truck routes, local guides, storehouses, trucks and trailers to transport the group. To ensure they could properly track the group, each migrant was given the code word “clave” to recite at various points during their journey, according to the indictment.
In this June 27, 2022 file photo, members of law enforcement investigate a semi-trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas. At least 46 people, believed to be migrant workers from Mexico, have been found dead in an abandoned tractor trailer, according to reports. More than a dozen victims were found alive, suffering from heat stroke, and taken to local hospitals.
Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images, FILE
Prosecutors said the men knew the trailer they were using that day had no working air conditioning. As the temperature rose, people in the back grew desperate, screaming and banging on the walls for help, according to the indictment.
Investigators say it was the deadliest human trafficking incident in U.S. history.
Eleven people found in the tractor were taken to hospital but survived, investigators said.
US Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite spoke at length at a news conference about the efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha, whose mission is to investigate human rights abuses and push for prosecution. As of June 2021, they have had 80 convictions.
In this file photo from June 29, 2022, people place flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial where a tractor trailer was discovered containing deceased migrants outside of San Antonio, Texas.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
“Our message is simple,” Polite said. “If you risk people’s lives, if you ignore humanity’s cries for profit, we will go after you aggressively.”
The trial of Zamorano and Martinez is scheduled for September 11. All six charged so far face life in prison if convicted. Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately available.
