Eleven individuals have been indicted for their alleged role in a multi‑year human smuggling operation that resulted in seven migrant deaths. The victims were confined in an unventilated shipping container in Texas, with six bodies found in Laredo and one discovered near railroad tracks in San Antonio.
The indictment alleges that the migrants were loaded into a container near Del Rio before being transported by train across the state. The container could not be opened from the inside, leaving the migrants with no escape route.
Officials indicated that the intended destination was likely San Antonio, where smugglers opened the train car doors. One individual fell from the car and was left dead by the tracks; the remaining six were later discovered in Laredo.
Among the victims was a 14‑year‑old child, and another attempted to contact family while suffering from heat exhaustion. The group is alleged to have operated from April 2023 until May 2026, using cargo trains to move migrants deeper into the United States.
The indictment states that migrants paid between $1,500 and $10,000 for transport from Acuña, Mexico, to the U.S. On May 9, they entered Del Rio and were forced into a locked container aboard a stationary Union Pacific train.
Inside the container, temperatures reached 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit. The train traveled along U.S. 90 to San Antonio, about 150 miles from Del Rio, where smugglers discovered the migrants in peril.
Smugglers allegedly left one deceased migrant by the tracks before abandoning the remaining passengers in the container as it continued to Laredo. The next day, a Union Pacific railyard worker noticed a leg protruding from the container, leading to the discovery of the dead bodies.
San Antonio authorities later recovered the body of the migrant left by the tracks. Nine of the eleven defendants have been arrested and are in federal custody. The first arrest occurred on May 12 in Del Rio.
Additional arrests were made in central and southern Texas as part of a Homeland Security Task Force operation. Arrested individuals include residents of Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala.
Two defendants remain at large. All defendants face charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death and aiding and abetting transport of illegal aliens resulting in death, with a potential life sentence.
