Four arrested in connection to San Antonio smuggling attempt that killed 53 migrants

Four Mexican nationals were arrested in connection to a smuggling attempt that took place last year in San Antonio and led to the death of 53 undocumented migrants, according to a U.S. attorney. 

The arrests of Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres, 28; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 37; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 53, were announced by U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza during a news conference on Tuesday in San Antonio. 

They are being 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, Esparza said. The suspects could face life in prison.

Two men had already been charged in the case, Homero Zamorano and Christian Martinez. They are scheduled to go on trial on September 11, according to Esparza. 

According to the indictment, the group of men worked together to smuggle undocumented migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras into the U.S. The migrants paid up to $15,000 to be smuggled into the country and were given at least three “attempts” to make it across the border. If the migrant was caught by U.S. law enforcement, then the organization would smuggle them again for no additional fee. 

The group had an extensive network of guides, stash houses, trucks, drivers, and routes that they used to get migrants into the United States. 

In May, the group loaded one of its trailers with 66 undocumented migrants in Laredo. They took away their cell phones and tried to mask the smell of humans to avoid K-9 detection at the border. 

However, the trailer’s air-conditioning unit was not working properly, according to the indictment. As temperatures reached high levels, the migrants began asking for help. When the doors were opened to the trailer, 48 migrants were dead, others died at a hospital later on. Upon realizing what had happened, the members of the smuggling organization fled. 

“The allegations in the indictment are horrifying,” Esparza said. “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. Thanks to our law enforcement partners at the local, state, and federal levels—with Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Division leading the investigation—we are one step closer to delivering justice for those migrants and their families.”