4 Arrested in ‘Horrific’ Human Trafficking Border Case That Resulted in 53 Deaths

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice’s Robert F. Kennedy building in Washington on June 23, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Tuesday that four individuals have been arrested in relation to a tractor-trailer human smuggling incident in San Antonio, Texas, on June 27 last year. The event resulted in the deaths of 53 illegal immigrants, while another 11 were injured.

“Human smugglers prey on migrants’ hope for a better life—but their only priority is profit,” Garland stated. “Tragically, 53 people who had been loaded into a tractor-trailer in Texas and endured hours of unimaginable cruelty lost their lives because of this heartless scheme. Human smugglers who put people’s lives at risk for profit and break our laws cannot hide for long: We will find you and bring you to justice.”

Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres, 28; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 37; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 53, all Mexican nationals, are alleged to have participated in an illegal smuggling organization to bring illegal immigrants through Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico into the United States.

The new indictment alleges that the four accused collected names and retrieved the tractor-trailer that would pick up at least 66 people, including eight children.

“This horrific tragedy underscores the callous disregard criminal smuggling organizations have for human life, including the lives of children,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These indictments and arrests are another step forward in obtaining justice and accountability for these senseless deaths. Joint Task Force Alpha will remain steadfast in its efforts to thwart these deadly schemes driven by greed at the expense of safety and security.”

Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) was established by Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in June 2021 to investigate and prosecute human trafficking organizations from Central America.

“These indictments are the direct result of a whole-of-government effort to prevent these horrific crimes and is the largest campaign of its kind in U.S. history,” said Mayorkas.

The 18-wheeler had traveled from Laredo, Texas on the Mexican border to San Antonio, Texas, in a three hour journey without air conditioning in the trailer. The Justice Department’s indictment alleges that a number of the organization’s members had opened the doors of the vehicle to find that 48 people, including a pregnant woman, were already dead. Another 16 were taken to the hospital, where five died.

Authorities had received calls about an abandoned truck on the evening of June 27, 2022, after a worker heard cries for help, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told the Texas Tribune.

First responders were horrified.

“You’re not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies in there,” San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told the Associated Press. “None of us come to work imagining that.”

The indictment alleges that the organizers knew the air conditioning was out of order, and that the illegal immigrants would be without sufficient air flow.

“The allegations in the indictment are horrifying,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Dozens of desperate, vulnerable men, women, and children put their trust in smugglers who abandoned them in a locked trailer to perish in the merciless south Texas summer.”

The defendants are charged with “conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death, conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death, and transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.”

They face maximum sentences of life in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Fuchs, Sarah Spears, and Amanda Brown are prosecuting the case for the Western District of Texas.