Four Mexican nationals have been arrested in Texas for their roles in the 2022 tractor-trailer smuggling incident that left 53 migrants — including eight children and one pregnant woman — dead, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. It is believed to be the deadliest human smuggling case in modern U.S. history.

"Human smugglers prey on migrants' hope for a better life — but their only priority is profit," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. 

"Tragically, 53 people who had been loaded into a tractor-trailer in Texas and endured hours of unimaginable cruelty lost their lives because of this heartless scheme. Human smugglers who put people's lives at risk for profit and break our laws cannot hide for long: We will find you and bring you to justice," Garland said.

According to the DOJ statement, the men — Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres, 28; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 37; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 53 — were allegedly part of a smuggling operation that illegally brought migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico into the U.S. 

"The victims of this human smuggling operation died under horrific circumstances, underscoring the callous disregard smuggling organizations, such as this one, show for human life," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. said in prepared remarks.

The government alleged that some of the defendants knew "the trailer's air-conditioning unit was malfunctioning" and would not get cold air to those inside the tractor-trailer.

"As alleged, these smugglers' knowledge and criminal acts led to dangerous temperatures in that vehicle," Polite, Jr. said. "And as those temperatures rose, those people banged, and scratched, and clawed, and yelled out for their humanity."

The arrests Tuesday followed the indictments of two men last year for their role in the operation. A federal grand jury in San Antonio indicted Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, both of Pasadena, Texas, in July 2022 on counts of transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in death; and transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in serious injury.

When members of the organization met the vehicle at the end of its nearly three-hour journey to San Antonio, they opened the doors to find 48 of the migrants already dead. Sixteen were transported to hospitals with heat-related injuries, where five more later died.

The four men were each charged with conspiracies involving the transport of illegal aliens resulting in death, serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted on the top counts, according to the DOJ. 

In:
• Immigration
• Undocumented Immigrants
• Smuggling

C Mandler

C Mandler is a social media producer and trending topics writer for CBS News, focusing on American politics and LGBTQ+ issues.