World Courant
Authorities have arrested six Guatemalan human smugglers linked to a 2021 semi-truck crash that killed greater than 50 migrants and injured greater than 100, the Division of Justice introduced this week.
This comes three years after the tragic accident that occurred in Chiapas, Mexico, which killed and maimed scores of migrants, together with kids.
4 of the Guatemalan nationals – Tomas Quino Canil, 36; Alberto Marcario Chitic, 31; Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, 24; and Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala, 42 – had been arrested by Guatemalan regulation enforcement and surrendered to U.S. authorities.
The indictment alleges that the smugglers recruited Guatemalan migrants to enter the U.S. illegally, collected funds from them and even distributed written scripts to migrant kids on what to say if apprehended by U.S. immigration authorities.
In the course of the journey, the smugglers moved the migrants on foot and on buses, cattle vans and trailers.
On Dec. 9, 2021, migrants being transported by the smugglers in a trailer crashed right into a metal pedestrian bridge close to a small city known as Tuxtla Gutierrez, leading to greater than 50 deaths.