11 Indicted in Smuggling Deaths of 7 Migrants in Texas

A federal grand jury in Del Rio, Texas, has indicted 11 individuals in connection with the smuggling deaths of seven migrants who were found dead inside a sealed shipping container on a Union Pacific freight train in May. The indictment, unsealed Friday, charges the defendants with conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and aiding and abetting the transportation of aliens resulting in death — each charge punishable by up to life in prison.

According to the Department of Justice, the smuggling organization operated from at least April 2023 through May 12, 2026, using cargo trains to move migrants deeper into the United States after they had crossed illegally from Mexico. Migrants paid between $1,500 and $10,000 to smugglers in Honduras, Mexico, and the United States for passage.

Deadly Journey in a Sealed Container

On May 9, 2026, the organization facilitated the smuggling of at least seven migrants from Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas. Between approximately 1:18 p.m. and 1:25 p.m., while a Union Pacific train sat stationary, smugglers used red bolt cutters to break the lock on a Conex shipping container, loaded the migrants inside, and sealed the door from the outside.

The container, which was stacked atop another, had no ventilation or cooling system and could not be opened from the inside. Outside temperatures that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit (31–33 degrees Celsius). The train then departed Del Rio, traveling east along US-90 toward San Antonio, about 150 miles away.

“In that kind of heat, it’s May in Texas, ultimately it’s very hard to survive in an un-air-conditioned, sealed container with … the temperature being what it was on that day,” U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons told the Associated Press.

When the train arrived in San Antonio, smugglers opened the container and discovered the migrants in peril. According to Simmons, one migrant fell out of the container. The smugglers “left that individual for dead there by the tracks in San Antonio, closed the door to the container and sent the train on its way.” The train continued south to Laredo with the remaining six migrants still locked inside.

Discovery and Aftermath

On May 10, a Union Pacific employee at the Laredo rail yard spotted a leg protruding from the container and discovered the six bodies. The seventh victim was later found by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office near the railroad tracks in San Antonio. The victims included four Mexican nationals and three Honduran nationals, among them a 14-year-old boy. Autopsies conducted by the Webb County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was hyperthermia, or heat stroke.

“One of those individuals frantically contacted their family as they were dying from the sweltering heat in that container,” Simmons said, as reported by Fox News.

The Indictment and Arrests

Nine of the 11 defendants have been arrested. Mayra Alejandra Huerta, 32, of Del Rio, was taken into custody on May 12. Eight others were arrested last week in a multi-day operation by the Homeland Security Task Force across central and south Texas. Two defendants remain at large: Karina Garcia, 37, of Del Rio, a U.S. citizen, and Seferino Huerta-Casillas, 35, of Mexico.

The defendants include four U.S. citizens, two permanent U.S. residents, and five individuals without legal status. Among those arrested are Edson Alejandro Perez, 18, of Del Rio; Eric Hernandez, 40, of Eagle Pass, Texas; Jonas Ulloa-Aguilera, 25, of Honduras; Franklin Williams Ayala Aguilera, 30, of Honduras; Maria Norma Neri de Moran, 56, of Mexico; Damian Huerta Analucas, 55, of Mexico; Rosario Cristal Lopez-Saldana, 26, of Mexico; and Pascual Raymundo Loarca, 34, of Guatemala.

Broader Context and Implications

The case is being prosecuted under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, which targets criminal cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling rings. The task force places special emphasis on crimes involving children, making the presence of a 14-year-old among the victims a central focus of the investigation.

Smuggling via freight trains has long been a concern along the U.S.-Mexico border, as The Guardian noted. Laredo — home to one of the busiest land ports for U.S.-Mexico trade — sits less than a mile from the border and has long been a nexus for human and drug smuggling.

The incident echoes previous tragedies, including the 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio — the deadliest human smuggling attempt in U.S. history — for which two smugglers were sentenced to life in prison in 2025. In 2023, two people were found dead among 17 individuals in two rail cars near Knippa, Texas, about 70 miles west of San Antonio.

What’s Next

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Spears, Todd Keagle, and Ashley Ellis-Dotson for the Western District of Texas. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. With two suspects still at large, law enforcement continues to seek Karina Garcia and Seferino Huerta-Casillas. The indictment signals the federal government’s intensified efforts to crack down on smuggling organizations that profit from risking — and ultimately costing — human lives.