US jails Guatemalan man for 30 years over deadly smuggling operation

The 2022 incident resulted in the deaths of 53 immigrants trapped inside a tractor-trailer in dangerously high heat. Save Share A Guatemalan man has been sentenced to 30 years in a United States prison for his role ina human-smuggling operationthat killed 53 migrants trapped in a truck – a disaster that had been described as one of the deadliest such incidents along the US-Mexico border in recent history. US District Judge Orlando Garcia handed 39-year-old Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco a 30-year prison term on Tuesday, more than a year after his extradition from Guatemala in March 2025. He was first arrested in Guatemala in August 2024, as part of a cross-border effort to dismantle the human-smuggling network. The charges stem from a fatal incident on June 27, 2022. According to the US Department of Justice, emergency crews discovered dozens of people trapped inside an abandoned truck in a remote area on the southern outskirts of San Antonio, Texas. A total of 64 migrants had endured a lengthy journey that began in Guatemala and continued through Mexico across the border into the US. By the time the truck was driving from Laredo, Texas, to San Antonio – a distance of 250km (155 miles) – prosecutors say the air conditioning had stopped functioning. When the truck was discovered, temperatures were approaching 32C (90F).