Four Men Arrested in Connection to Migrants Left in Abandoned Trailer Truck

Back in the summer of 2022, the public was horrified to learn about the deaths of 53 migrants that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in a trailer truck. The migrants had been locked in the back of the trailer truck as it transported them from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio before it had been abandoned. Temperatures rose inside the trailer to over 125 degrees and as a result, 48 migrants, including eight children, were found deceased, due to the sweltering conditions. The migrants had died due to heat stroke and heat exhaustion. An additional sixteen migrants were taken to hospitals, where five more died. This death toll made it the deadliest smuggling incident in United States history.

On Tuesday, June 27^th, 2023, the year anniversary of this tragedy, police announced the arrest of four Mexican nationals in connection to this human smuggling operation. The four men have been identified as Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres, 28; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 37; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 53. These four men has been accused of coordinating and facilitating the smuggling operation of last year.

These arrests are in addition to the original arrests made last year, including the driver of the trailer, Homero Zamorano Jr. who was found hiding in nearby brush, during the initial discovery. He was charged with one count of smuggling resulting in death.

The smugglers were aware that the trailer's air condition was malfunctioning and would not blow cool air to the migrants trapped inside. According to survivors, the trapped migrants pounded on the walls and yelled to get the driver's attention. Many others pleaded for water, begging to be let out. Some even took turns breathing through a single hole in the wall.

Migrants had paid the smugglers anywhere between $12,000 and $15,000 each to be taken across the U.S. border.

The indictment of the four Mexican nationals alleges that the smugglers exchanged the names of the migrants and coordinated the retrieval of the truck and its handoff to the driver.

The deceased migrants included people from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and even two from El Salvador. Investigators have worked tirelessly to identify them all.

This horrific incident highlights the dangerous conditions migrants are willing to face in an attempt to cross the border and settle in the United States. Human smugglers prey on migrants' hope for a better life. But they don't care for them – all they care for are their profits. They left these people in an abandoned trailer, with a complete disregard for their lives.

But migrants are willing to take the risk. The quality of life in their home countries is not always conducive to the lives they want to live. Gangs, drugs, and corrupt governments push these people to leave their homes and threaten their lives to find a safe place to settle. The risk of staying in their home countries is far greater than the risk of trying to get into the United States.

Our deepest condolences are sent to the families of the deceased.