Guatemala arrests man who killed 53 migrants, wanted by the US
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Seven suspects were arrested for involvement in the murder of 53 migrants who died from overheating and dehydration after being locked in a trailer in the US.
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Rigoberto Roman Miranda Orozco, the ringleader of various Guatemalans accused of having smuggled 53 migrants from Mexico and Central America, sits in a cell at a courtroom in Guatemala City on August 21, 2024. (AP)
Guatemalan police arrested a suspected ringleader linked to the deaths of 53 migrants on Wednesday, and who is wanted by the US.
"Extraditable" 47-year-old suspect Rigoberto Miranda, the alleged leader of the "Los Orozcos" gang involved in the "trafficking of immigrants to the United States" was arrested following a series of 12 police raids in the western department of San Marcos on the Mexican border, the Guatemalan Interior Ministry said in a statement on X.
Six other gang members have also been arrested in the operation in collaboration with agents from the US Department of Homeland Security, the ministry stated, providing no additional details.
The suspects were arrested based on speculated illicit trafficking of persons and criminal association, Guatemalan prosecutors said on X, adding that "cash, phones, and vehicles" were seized during the dozen raids.
➡️ In proceedings for the #SanAntonioCase, the Public Ministry coordinates an arrest for extradition purposes.
— MP de Guatemala (@MPGuatemala_EN) August 22, 2024
As a result of 12 search operations coordinated by the Prosecutor's Office against the Illicit Trafficking of Migrants, Rigoberto Ramón Miranda Orozco, https://t.co/u3vJT2gUOp pic.twitter.com/hmhkFHXHqb
"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 read.
According to US officials, the migrants died from overheating and dehydration after traveling 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.
Four suspects from Mexico have been detained for their suspected role in the deaths of migrants, who hailed from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
All suspected could potentially face life in prison.
53 migrants dead following tractor-trailer discovery in Texas
At least 46 migrants were discovered dead on June 27, 2022, in and around a tractor-trailer abandoned on the side of the road on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas.
The grim discovery was one of the worst disasters involving migrants in recent years, and it occurred five years after a similar deadly incident in the same central Texas city, just hours from the Mexican border.
"At this time we have processed approximately 46 bodies that have been triaged and tagged and declared deceased," San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told reporters at the time.
"The patients that we saw were hot to the touch, they were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion, no signs of water in the vehicle, it was a refrigerated tractor-trailer but there was no visible working A/C unit on that rig," Hood said.
Three people were detained as a result of the incident, according to authorities.
"Tonight we are dealing with a horrific human tragedy," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg told a press conference.
