Fourteen people face charges in connection with the deaths of seven migrants found in or near a Union Pacific shipping container in Texas earlier this year, according to the Department of Justice. The Department of Homeland Security has linked the deaths to a human smuggling operation.
A superseding indictment unsealed Monday in the Western District of Texas is the first set of criminal charges filed since July, when 11 defendants—including four U.S. citizens—were indicted. The new filing adds three defendants, among them Yuri Cuaresma Paredes and Mavis Escalante Peraza, both of whom made initial court appearances in Texas on Monday. The 14 defendants consist of seven illegal immigrants, four U.S. citizens, and three non-citizens.
All 14 are charged in a conspiracy to smuggle people into the United States for profit. The 11 previously charged defendants also face additional counts for smuggling and money laundering.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the defendants “showed no regard for the value of human life and put people in harm’s way to pad their own pockets.” He added that those who “treat human beings like cargo for their own financial gain will be held accountable under this administration.”
How the Ring Worked.
Federal prosecutors say the migrants, who came from Mexico and Honduras, paid between $1,500 and $10,000 each to facilitators in Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere. Once inside the country, many were held in stash houses or in the brush along Union Pacific tracks in Del Rio, Texas, which borders the Rio Grande. Smugglers then loaded them into shipping containers so they could travel farther into the United States undetected.
The network operated from 2023 until May 12 and involved coordinated roles including route planning, guides, stash-house operators, and drivers. Prosecutors allege the defendants used cargo trains to move illegal immigrants across the border and deeper into the country.
The Victims.
Authorities identified the seven victims as migrants from Honduras and Mexico, including a 14-year-old boy. The medical examiner determined that at least one died from heat stroke and concluded the others likely did as well while trapped inside the container. The Union Pacific train left Long Beach, California, on May 7 and reached Laredo on May 10. A railroad employee discovered the bodies around 3:30 PM local time; the Webb County Medical Examiner found that six of the victims had probably died before the train arrived in Laredo.
Temperatures that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees. Prosecutors say members of the operation used bolt cutters to open the container, placed the migrants inside, and stacked it atop another container that had no ventilation or cooling. One person inside contacted an out-of-state relative to report health difficulties.
Among those previously charged were U.S. citizens Karina Garcia, 37, of Del Rio; Edson Alejandro Perez, 18, of Del Rio; Mayra Alejandra Huerta, 32, of Del Rio; and Eric Hernandez, 40, of Eagle Pass. Huerta had already been charged with harboring migrants after investigators found $53,000 in cash and multiple weapons at a house she shared with her husband and his nephew. The two men fled across the river into Mexico.
Potential Penalties.
Twelve defendants face a charge of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Eleven face seven counts of aiding and abetting the illegal bringing of aliens into the United States; conviction on at least three of those counts carries a minimum of five years and a maximum of 15 years. Twelve are charged with conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, punishable by up to 20 years. Eleven face a conspiracy-to-commit-money-laundering count that also carries a maximum of 20 years.
