Two Guatemalan smugglers plead guilty in 2021 crash that killed 56 people: DHS
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FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that two Guatemalan citizens have pleaded guilty for their roles in a massive human trafficking operation that resulted in a catastrophic tractor-trailer crash in Mexico in 2021 that killed 56 people and injured more than 100 others.
Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala and Alberto Marcario Chitic were indicted on charges of conspiring to bring illegal immigrants to the United States, endangering lives and resulting in death, according to DHS officials.
The two smugglers were among five Guatemalan citizens extradited to the United States to face charges in 2025, while a sixth alleged accomplice was arrested in Texas.
6 HUMAN TRAFFICKERS WERE ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE ACCIDENT THAT KILLED DOZENS OF PEOPLE IN 2021
The couple was seen in a photo being arrested by Homeland Security Investigations agents. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Federal officials noted that the crash was a tragic consequence of previous open border policies.
“This is yet another example of how Biden’s open borders have created a humanitarian crisis that allows smugglers to profit from the deaths of illegal aliens,” Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. “Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of ICE, these criminal aliens have pleaded guilty and will soon face justice.”
The Dec. 9, 2021 crash involved a highly organized, profit-driven network that treated people “like a supply chain,” according to prosecutors.
FED IS CRUSHING MAJOR CLAIM OF GUATEMALA HUMAN TRAFFICKING NETWORK OPERATING OUT OF CALIFORNIA
Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an illegal immigrant into the United States, endangering life, and causing serious bodily injury resulting in death, according to DHS officials. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Smugglers recruited migrants in Guatemala, collected their money, and loaded them into cattle trucks and tractor trailers for the perilous journey north to the U.S. border.
The fatal crash occurred just north of the Guatemala-Mexico border.
Alberto Marcario Chitic pleaded guilty in connection with the illegal immigrant smuggling disaster that left more than 50 people dead in Mexico in 2021. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“This tragic incident demonstrates that despite numerous risks, including extreme temperatures and dangerous travel conditions, human smugglers do not care about the illegal aliens they contact and transport,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. he wrote.
Acting U.S. Attorney John GE Marck of the Southern District of Texas noted the cold and calculating nature of the operation, revealing that the smuggling network “gives children scripts so they can lie to law enforcement if they are caught entering the United States.”
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The successful investigation was led by Joint Task Force Alpha, a special partnership between the Department of Justice and DHS aimed at dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
To date, the task force’s efforts to combat the border crisis have resulted in more than 458 arrests and more than 408 convictions of leaders and key facilitators of illegal immigrant smuggling in the United States.
