Guatemalan National Extradited to the United States Sentenced for Involvement in 2022 Mass Casualty Alien Smuggling Event

A Guatemalan man, Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 39, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for his involvement in a 2022 mass casualty alien smuggling event in San Antonio, Texas, that resulted in 53 deaths and 11 injured.

"Alien smuggling organizations rely on people like Miranda-Orozco to facilitate their criminal conspiracies and put people on the dangerous path of illegally entering the United States," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "By refusing to secure our borders, the Biden administration empowered human smugglers across the globe to take advantage of our country and break our laws for financial gain. These smugglers value profits over people, and their disregard of the risks or dangerous conditions in which they carry out their schemes too often result in tragic consequences like in this case with 53 people dead. Under President Trump, the Criminal Division and Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) will sustain maximum pressure on these dangerous criminals to hold them accountable for preventable tragedies and protect our borders."

"Of the dozens of deceased aliens found in the tractor trailer in June 2022, 21 of those were from Guatemala - a country that Mirando-Orozco called home and a place where he thought he could hide from justice," said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. "He was wrong. Miranda-Orozco was personally responsible for smuggling two Guatemalans who died in that horrific tragedy, and thanks to our law enforcement efforts and our strong partnership with the Office of the Attorney General of Guatemala, he was found, extradited, and will now spend the rest of his life in a U.S. federal prison. To those who believe they can avoid accountability by cowering in a foreign country, Miranda-Orozco thought the same. Because of this Administration's commitment to holding accountable all of those who support transnational criminal organizations, he now knows otherwise."

"This sentencing delivers a measure of accountability for a tragedy that claimed 53 lives and devastated multiple families," said Acting Executive Associate Director John A. Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). "Miranda-Orozco and his co-conspirators treated human lives as cargo, knowingly placing vulnerable people in lethal conditions to advance their criminal enterprise. HSI worked relentlessly with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to identify his role in this horrific event, secure his extradition and bring him before a U.S. court. HSI will continue pursuing the transnational criminal networks that profit from human smuggling and threaten the safety and security of our communities."

According to court documents, Miranda-Orozco conspired with other human smugglers to facilitate the travel of multiple aliens from Guatemala through Mexico, and ultimately, to the United States. Miranda-Orozco organized and facilitated the smuggling of aliens who ended up dying or injured in the back of a tractor trailer that was found in San Antonio on June 27, 2022. The tractor trailer was loaded with 64 aliens, and investigators later determined that it had traveled approximately 156 miles from Laredo, Texas, to San Antonio in 90-degree Fahrenheit heat without functioning air conditioning in the trailer. First responders pronounced 48 aliens dead at the scene and five aliens later died at the hospital, totaling 53 deceased. Among the deceased were six juveniles and at least one pregnant woman. Two of Miranda-Orozco's clients, both illegal aliens from Guatemala, died in the tractor trailer mass casualty incident, and another sustained serious bodily injuries but survived after a lengthy hospital stay. According to court documents, Miranda-Orozco admitted that he arranged for the aliens' transportation and accommodations throughout Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States.

In August 2024, Miranda-Orozco was arrested in Guatemala pursuant to a U.S. request for his extradition. His arrest was part of a large-scale takedown during which Guatemalan law enforcement executed multiple search and arrest warrants across Guatemala. He was extradited from Guatemala in March 2025.

Miranda-Orozco pleaded guilty on July 2 to conspiracy to bring an alien into the United States resulting in death; aiding and abetting bringing an alien into the United States resulting in death; and aiding and abetting bringing an alien into the United States resulting in serious bodily injury.

HSI San Antonio led U.S. investigative efforts, working in concert with HSI Guatemala's invaluable team members, and the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. HSI received substantial assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center/Operation Sentinel; U.S. Border Patrol; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the San Antonio Police Department; the San Antonio Fire Department; and the Palestine Police Department. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Guatemala to secure the arrest and extradition of Miranda-Orozco and, along with the Criminal Division's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT), provided crucial assistance in this matter.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), First Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Fuchs for the Western District of Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney/JTFA prosecutor Jose Luis Acosta for the Western District of Texas, with assistance from HRSP Historian/Latin America Specialist Joanna Crandall.

The Justice Department thanks its Guatemalan law enforcement partners, who were instrumental in arresting Miranda-Orozco, and the Guatemalan Attorney General's Office and Anti-Human Smuggling Unit for making the extradition possible.

This case was supported and prosecuted by JTFA, the U.S. Department of Justice's lead effort in combating human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations throughout the Americas. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking networks that impact public safety and border security. Led by the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by other Criminal Division components, JTFA has dedicated prosecutors from U.S. Attorneys' Offices along the Southwest border, Southern Florida, Northern New York, and Vermont. JTFA partners with U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS components, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, HSI, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Office of Field Operations. JTFA also partners with FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA's work has resulted in more than 486 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and trafficking; more than 447 U.S. convictions; and more than 374 significant jail sentences imposed and forfeitures of substantial assets.