11 Charged in Deaths of 7 Migrants Found Locked in Sweltering Boxcar, Including 14‑Year‑Old
DEL RIO, Texas – A federal grand jury has indicted 11 defendants on charges related to a human smuggling operation that ended with seven migrants dead inside a locked, unventilated shipping container in May, including a 14‑year‑old child, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
According to the indictment, on or about May 9, smugglers used red bolt cutters to break the lock on a Conex shipping container positioned atop another container on a stationary Union Pacific train in Del Rio. They loaded seven aliens inside and sealed the door from the outside, making it impossible to open from within. With outside temperatures ranging from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit that day, the container had no ventilation or cooling system.
The train departed Del Rio and traveled east along U.S. Highway 90 toward San Antonio. Upon arrival, smugglers opened the container, discovered the migrants in grave distress, and fled the scene—allegedly leaving one deceased alien near the railroad tracks and abandoning the remaining six inside the sealed container. The train later continued south to Laredo, where a rail yard worker spotted a leg protruding from the Conex container and discovered the six additional deceased individuals. In total, seven aliens died: four Mexican nationals and three Honduran nationals. During the ordeal, at least one victim managed to send a desperate message to a loved one pleading for help.
The indictment alleges that from at least April 2023 through May 12, 2026, the defendants and others operated a human smuggling organization that used cargo trains to move aliens deeper into the United States after illegally crossing them from Mexico. Smugglers charged between $1,500 and $10,000 per alien, with payments collected from Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere.
The 11 defendants charged are: Karina Garcia, 37, of Del Rio; Edson Alejandro Perez, 18, of Del Rio; Seferino Huerta-Casillas, 35, of Mexico; Jonas Ulloa-Aguilera, 25, of Honduras; Mayra Alejandra Huerta, 32, of Del Rio; Maria Norma Neri de Moran, 56, of Mexico; Damian Huerta Analucas, 55, of Mexico; Rosario Cristal Lopez-Saldana, 26, of Mexico; Eric Hernandez, 40, of Eagle Pass, Texas; Franklin Williams Ayala Aguilera, 30, of Honduras; and Pascual Raymundo Loarca, 34, of Guatemala.
Mayra Alejandra Huerta was arrested on May 12 and has remained in federal custody. Eight other defendants were arrested last week during a multi‑day Homeland Security Task Force operation across central and south Texas. Two defendants, Karina Garcia and Seferino Huerta-Casillas, remain at large.
All 11 defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death and one count of aiding and abetting transport of illegal aliens resulting in death. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Nine Venezuelan Nationals Plead Guilty in Nashville Sex Trafficking Ring
Organization recruited women with false job promises, then forced them into commercial sex work under threats of violence
Nine criminal aliens from Venezuela have pleaded guilty to human trafficking, alien smuggling, and money laundering charges related to a sex trafficking ring operated in several motels in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Scheme
According to court documents, the defendants orchestrated a human trafficking and smuggling scheme targeting vulnerable Venezuelan women, recruiting them to the U.S. with promises of employment. After arranging and facilitating their smuggling into the U.S., the defendants directed the women to Nashville. Once there, the women were told they owed an inflated smuggling debt, which they could only repay through commercial sex work.
Those who resisted faced threats of physical harm against themselves and their families in Venezuela. The defendants profited by taking a cut of the women’s earnings in addition to collecting on the inflated smuggling debts.
Yilibeth Carmen Rivero-de Caldera and her son, Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero, led and managed the scheme. Rivero enlisted her adult children and their spouses, Mota’s girlfriend, and others to take on various roles.
Rivero, Mota, and defendant Ramon De Jesus Velasquez Martinez used threats of violence, including wielding firearms, to intimidate and force compliance from the women. To further intimidate the victims, Mota and other defendants engaged in conduct that made the victims believe Mota was affiliated with a Venezuelan prison gang and openly spoke about Mota’s prior prison term for homicide in Venezuela.
Defendants and Charges
Rivero, Mota, Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero, and Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero pleaded guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy, conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for financial gain, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez pleaded guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo, Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca, and Velasquez pleaded guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy.
Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Solorzano pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for financial gain and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The charges for Rivero, Mota, Romero, Morales, Castillo, Gutierrez, Gomez, and Velasquez carry a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison. Manzano faces a maximum penalty of twenty years.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced during the week of Nov. 16. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
“This criminal organization exploited vulnerable women, enriched itself through coercion and violence, and showed complete disregard for human dignity and the rule of law,” said U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee.
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