Our bodies in bodybags are positioned on the facet of the street after a lethal semi-trailer truck crash in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas state, Mexico, Dec. 9, 2021.
STR/AP
cover caption
toggle caption
STR/AP
AUSTIN, Texas — Six Guatemalans had been arrested in Guatemala and in Texas Monday on human smuggling expenses linked to a 2021 semitrailer truck crash in Mexico that killed greater than 50 migrants, authorities mentioned.
The truck had been full of at the least 160 migrants, lots of them Guatemalans, when it crashed right into a help for a pedestrian bridge in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of the southern state of Chiapas. The arrests had been introduced on the three-year anniversary of the accident.
Based on an indictment unsealed Monday in Laredo, Texas, Guatemalan authorities arrested Tomas Quino Canil, 36; Alberto Marcario Chitic, 31; Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, 24; and Josefa Quino Canil de Zavala, 42.
One other man, Jorge Agapito Ventura, was arrested at his residence in Cleveland, Texas, U.S. authorities mentioned. Guatemalan officers famous a sixth arrest. A sixth identify listed on the U.S. federal indictment was blacked out.
The accused had been charged with conspiracy, putting life in jeopardy, inflicting critical bodily damage, and leading to dying.
It was unclear late Monday if these arrested had attorneys in the USA who might touch upon their behalf. Justice Division officers didn’t instantly reply to an e mail Monday night time.
The indictment expenses them with conspiring to smuggle migrants from Guatemala via Mexico to the U.S. for fee. In some instances that concerned smuggling unaccompanied youngsters, the defendants would supply scripts of what to say if apprehended, the indictment mentioned.
The smugglers would transfer migrants on foot, inside microbuses, cattle vehicles and tractor trailers, the indictment mentioned. It mentioned the smugglers would use Fb Messenger to request and ship identification paperwork to the migrants to get them into the U.S.
“The tragedy that occurred three years ago today in Chiapas is further proof that human smugglers are ruthless, callous and dangerous, intending migrants should not believe their lives,” mentioned U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Alejandro Mayorkas.
Guatemalan Inside Minister Francisco Jiménez mentioned the defendants had been a part of a legal construction referred to as Los Quino, and that U.S. officers had requested extradition of the 4 arrested in Guatemala.
Authorities executed 15 search warrants throughout Guatemala on Monday, Jiménez mentioned. He mentioned they’d the help of the U.S. and Mexican governments.
