Justice Department Charges 14 in Human Smuggling Scheme That Killed 7 in a Sealed Train Container, Including a 14-Year-Old
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced on November 9 that a federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned a superseding indictment charging 14 individuals, including seven illegal aliens, three non-citizens, and four U.S. citizens, for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle aliens into the United States for profit. One failed smuggling event killed seven people, including a 14-year-old child from Honduras, who died after being loaded into a poorly ventilated shipping container.
According to court documents, from at least April 2023 through May 12, 2026, the organization used cargo trains to move aliens further into the United States after smuggling them across the southern border from Mexico. Each smuggled alien, or their families and friends, paid between $1,500 and $10,000 to smugglers in Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere. Once inside the country, aliens were often housed at stash houses or hidden in the brush along the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, before being loaded into shipping containers for transport into the interior.
In February 2026, the organization began facilitating the smuggling of at least seven aliens, including the 14-year-old, into Del Rio. On or about May 9, after the seven crossed from Mexico into the Del Rio area, smugglers took them to an area near the Union Pacific train tracks. Between about 1:18 p.m. and 1:25 p.m., while a Union Pacific train was stationary, smugglers used red bolt cutters to cut the lock off a Conex shipping container, loaded the aliens inside, and shut the door. The container was stacked on top of another, had no ventilation or cooling system, and was secured from the outside so it could not be opened from within; recorded outside temperatures that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit.
The train then traveled east along U.S. Highway 90 to San Antonio. There, smugglers opened the container, discovered the aliens in peril, and fled, leaving one of the deceased near the railroad tracks and the rest in the container. The next day the train departed south to Laredo. On May 10, a worker at the Union Pacific Rail Yard in Laredo found six people deceased inside the container, and San Antonio law enforcement later found the seventh victim by the tracks. Four of the deceased were Mexican nationals and three were Honduran nationals, including the 14-year-old. The investigation revealed that at least one victim messaged a loved one pleading for help.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division said the defendants allegedly treated human beings like cargo for financial gain, and that cases like these are why President Trump established the Homeland Security Task Force. U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas said there have been multiple rail car smuggling interdictions in recent months and that survivors of those schemes may never realize how fortunate they are. John A. Pasciucco, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Antonio, said the network used cargo trains and sealed shipping containers to move people in conditions that were inhumane and deadly.
Twelve defendants are charged with conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and aiding and abetting the same, carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison. Eleven defendants face seven counts of aiding and abetting illegally bringing aliens to the United States, with a minimum of five years and a maximum of 15 years if convicted of at least three counts. Twelve defendants are charged with conspiracy to bring aliens causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, up to 20 years, and 11 with conspiracy to commit money laundering, up to 20 years. The case was investigated by HSI and the U.S. Border Patrol, among many partners, and is part of the Joint Task Force Alpha and Homeland Security Task Force efforts. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼（GSM联邦固定图库）。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (GSM federal asset library).
