Migrants are smuggled in empty suitcases, water tanks, say U.S. prosecutors 

U.S. authorities on Tuesday revealed an indictment of a human smuggling operation that allegedly transported migrants in suitcases and empty water tanks across the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Eight people, mostly U.S. citizens, were indicted for smuggling hundreds of undocumented across the border, while another six co-conspirators were identified. 

According to U.S. officials and court-related documents, the group hid migrants in suitcases, empty water tanks, wooden crates on tractor-trailers, and other inconspicuous places to try to get them across the border. 

Prosecutors identified Erminia Serrano Piedra, a 31-year-old Texas resident known as “Boss Lady,” as the leader of the operation. 

According to court documents, Serrano Piedra generated millions of dollars through human smuggling operations. Between December 2017 and August 2021, Serrano Piedra deposited more than $1.3 million in two bank accounts. However, she only reported $120,000 to financial institutions. 

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DOJ) said during a press conference on Tuesday that smugglers were not concerned with human life and only with profits instead. 

"They have become increasingly intertwined with the cartels and there is increasing evidence of the abuse, exploitation, and violence they perpetrate on migrants," said John Tien, DHS deputy secretary. "For too long they have acted with seeming impunity."