WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Justice Department has announced that a human smuggling network based in Guatemala, which caused a major migrant tragedy in the U.S., has been dismantled as a result of an extensive enforcement operation it carried out in co-ordination with its domestic and international partners.
In June 2022, this network smuggled 65 people into the United States on a journey that ended with the deaths of 53 migrants in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. They included six children and a pregnant woman.
In June 2021, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland had created a Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, to strengthen U.S. enforcement efforts against human smuggling originating from Central America.
On Wednesday, Guatemalan police executed multiple search and arrest warrants across Guatemala, working with U.S. agents. At the request of the United States, Guatemalan authorities arrested Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, who is the alleged leader of a smuggling group known as Los Orozcos.
The 47-year-old gang leader was charged in federal court in Texas in February, but was indicted on Wednesday in the Western District of Texas in connection with the investigation. Six others arrested as part of the operation will be charged locally in Guatemala.
Miranda-Orozco allegedly conspired with other smugglers to facilitate the travel of four migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States, charging $12,000 to $15,000 for their journey.
Three of these migrants died in the tractor-trailer, and the fourth suffered serious injury. Miranda-Orozco is charged with six counts related to migrant smuggling resulting in death or serious bodily injury, and is facing life in prison.
The Justice Department said JTFA's goal is to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Colombia, and Panama.
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