Eleven individuals have been indicted for their alleged involvement in a human smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of seven migrants in May. According to prosecutors, the migrants were trapped for hours inside an unventilated shipping container in Texas. The indictment states that the migrants were loaded into the container near Del Rio before being transported by train. Six bodies were later found in Laredo, while a seventh was discovered near railroad tracks in San Antonio.
The deceased included four Mexican nationals and three Honduran nationals, who were unable to escape due to the container being locked from the outside. U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons indicated that the migrants' journey began in Del Rio, with the intended destination likely being San Antonio. The smugglers allegedly used cargo trains to transport migrants further into the U.S. after crossing the border.
The indictment claims that the organization began facilitating the travel of the seven migrants who later died in the container in late April. Each victim reportedly paid between $1,500 and $10,000 for their transportation from Acuña, Mexico, to the U.S. On May 9, the migrants entered Del Rio, where smugglers used a bolt cutter to access a shipping container on a stationary Union Pacific train. The container's interior temperature reached between 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit.
The next day, a worker at the Union Pacific Railyard in Laredo discovered the deceased migrants. Nine of the eleven individuals charged have been arrested and are in federal custody. The defendants face serious charges, including conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.