6 Guatemalans arrested and charged with human smuggling in deadly 2021 Mexico truck crash

By JIM VERTUNO The Associated Press

FILE - Bodies in bodybags are placed on the side of the road after a deadly semi-trailer truck crash in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas state, Mexico, Dec. 9, 2021. (AP Photo, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/STR]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Six Guatemalans were arrested in Guatemala and in Texas Monday on human smuggling charges linked to a 2021 semitrailer truck crash in Mexico that killed more than 50 migrants, authorities said.

The truck had been packed with at least 160 migrants, many of them Guatemalans, when it crashed into a support for a pedestrian bridge in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of the southern state of Chiapas. The arrests were announced on the three-year anniversary of the accident.

According to an indictment unsealed Monday in Laredo, Texas, Guatemalan authorities arrested Tomas Quino Canil, 36; Alberto Marcario Chitic, 31; Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, 24; and Josefa Quino Canil de Zavala, 42.

Another man, Jorge Agapito Ventura, was arrested at his home in Cleveland, Texas, U.S. authorities said. Guatemalan officials noted a sixth arrest. A sixth name listed on the U.S. federal indictment was blacked out.

The accused were charged with conspiracy, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injury, and resulting in death.

It was unclear late Monday if those arrested had attorneys in the United States who could comment on their behalf. Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to an email Monday night.

The indictment charges them with conspiring to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for payment. In some cases that involved smuggling unaccompanied children, the defendants would provide scripts of what to say if apprehended, the indictment said.

The smugglers would move migrants on foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks and tractor trailers, the indictment said. It said the smugglers would use Facebook Messenger to request and deliver identification documents to the migrants to get them into the U.S.

“The tragedy that occurred three years ago today in Chiapas is further proof that human smugglers are ruthless, callous and dangerous, intending migrants should not believe their lives,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez said the defendants were part of a criminal structure called Los Quino, and that U.S. officials had requested extradition of the four arrested in Guatemala.

Authorities executed 15 search warrants across Guatemala on Monday, Jiménez said. He said they had the support of the U.S. and Mexican governments.

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This story has been updated to correct Oswaldo Zavala Quino’s middle name. It is Manuel, not Manuael.