Guatemalan police arrest 7 accused of trafficking the 53 migrants who died of asphyxiation in Texas in 2022

Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested seven Guatemalans accused of having smuggled 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America who died of asphyxiation in 2022 in Texas after being abandoned in a tractor trailer in the scorching summer heat.

Guatemala City, Guatemala (AP) – Guatemalan police on Wednesday arrested seven Guatemalans accused of having smuggled 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America who died of asphyxiation in 2022 in Texas after being abandoned in a tractor trailer in the scorching summer heat. They were the latest arrests after years of investigation into the deadliest tragedy of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. The dead included eight children. Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told The Associated Press the arrests were made possible after 13 raids in three of the country’s departments. They included Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, the alleged ringleader of the smuggling gang whose extradition has been requested by the United States. Police also seized vehicles and cash and rescued other migrants during the operations, they said in a statement. “This is a collaborative effort between the Guatemalan police and Homeland Security, in addition to other national agencies, to dismantle the structures of human trafficking, one of the strategic objectives of the government President Bernardo Arévalo in order to take on the phenomenon of irregular migration,” Jiménez said. Six people were charged previously.