Man Indicted In Human Smuggling Attempt That Left 53 Dead In Sweltering Tractor-Trailer

U.S. authorities on Thursday announced the indictment of a Guatemalan national who they say helped coordinate a human smuggling effort that ended with 53 migrants dead in a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio.

Rigoberto Román Mirnado Orozco is charged with six counts of migrant smuggling resulting in death or serious injury in the deadliest attempt from the U.S. Mexico border. Authorities alleged he can be connected to four of migrants in the trailer, three of whom died.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Arrests related to the 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in Texas who were left in a sweltering tractor-trailer have climbed to more than a dozen and now stretch to Central America after years of investigations into the deadliest smuggling attempt from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Guatemalan officials announced the arrests of seven people accused of helping smuggle the migrants. They included the alleged ringleader of a smuggling operation whose extradition has been requested by the United States, Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told The Associated Press.

The Justice Department was scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday in San Antonio to discuss a significant arrest in the case but did not provide details.

Jiménez said the arrests were made possible after 13 raids in three of the country’s departments. Police also seized vehicles and cash and rescued other migrants during the operations, Guatemalan officials 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