Guatemala arrests 7 suspected human smugglers in connection with deaths of 53 migrants in 2022

At least seven people have been arrested in Guatemala in connection with the deaths of 53 migrants in the United States in 2022.

The country’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday that the leader of the Los Orozco gang, which it said was “dedicated to smuggling migrants to the United States,” and six others were arrested.

In 2022, 53 undocumented individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras died and 11 others were injured in San Antonio, Texas, after being smuggled into the U.S. in truck trailers.

It said six people had previously been charged in the US in connection with the people-smuggling operation.

According to US authorities, 66 people, including eight children and one pregnant woman, were loaded onto the back of a truck to be smuggled into the country.

“On June 27, 2022, in a migration tragedy in San Antonio Texas, 53 migrants died in a truck.

“This news is spreading all over the world,” Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez said in a post on X.

“Today we disbanded ‘Los Orozcos’ by arresting its leader alias ‘Rigo’ and six other members suspected of being responsible.”

Guatemala arrests 7 suspected human traffickers over deaths of 53 migrants in 2022 first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.