14 Charged in Smuggling Scheme That Killed 7 in a Sealed Container

DEL RIO, Texas — A federal grand jury has charged 14 people in a human smuggling conspiracy that left seven people, including a 14-year-old child, dead inside a sealed shipping container on a cargo train, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Read the DOJ release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/14-charged-deadly-human-smuggling-scheme-killed-7-aliens-earlier-year

The superseding indictment was returned in the Western District of Texas and announced on November 9, 2026.

The indictment charges 14 individuals in total: seven illegal aliens, three non-citizens, and four U.S. citizens, according to the release.

Eleven of the defendants were first indicted in July.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Cargo Trains, Stash Houses, And Per-Person Fees

According to court documents, from at least April 2023 through May 12, 2026, the defendants and others operated a human smuggling organization that used cargo trains to move people further into the United States after they were smuggled across the southern border from Mexico.

Each smuggled person, or their families and friends, paid smugglers in Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere between $1,500 and $10,000, the Justice Department reported.

The organization was made up of multiple smugglers who worked with other smuggling groups, coordinating and using each other's routes, guides, stash houses, and drivers, according to the release.

Once smuggled into the United States, people were often housed at stash houses or hidden in the brush along the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas.

The organization then loaded people into shipping containers to transport them further into the interior of the United States, officials reported.

The defendants named in the release are:

Karina Garcia, 37, of Del Rio, Texas

Edson Alejandro Perez, 18, of Del Rio, Texas

Seferino Huerta-Casillas, 35, of Mexico

Jonas Ulloa-Aguilera, 25, of Honduras

Mayra Alejandra Huerta, 32, of Del Rio, Texas

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

Pascual Raymundo Loarca, 34, of Guatemala

Juan Alvaro Membreno-Contreras, 40, of Honduras

Yuri Julissa Cuaresma Paredes, 34, of Honduras

Mavis Aleyda Escalante Peraza, 38, of Honduras

Red Bolt Cutters, No Ventilation, And Seven Deaths

In February 2026, the organization began facilitating the smuggling of at least seven people, including one 14-year-old child from Honduras, into Del Rio, according to court documents.

On or about May 9, 2026, after the seven were illegally crossed from Mexico into the Del Rio area, the organization transported them to an area near the Union Pacific train tracks in Del Rio.

From approximately 1:18 p.m. to 1:25 p.m., while a Union Pacific train was stationary, smugglers using red bolt cutters allegedly cut the lock off a Conex shipping container's door, loaded the seven people into the container, and shut the door, the release stated.

The shipping container was stacked on top of another container and had no ventilation or cooling system.

Recorded outside temperatures that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the investigation.

The container was secured from the outside and could not be opened from the inside.

The train departed Del Rio and traveled east along U.S. Highway 90 to San Antonio, where smugglers opened the container door and discovered the people in peril, officials reported.

The smugglers then fled the scene, allegedly leaving one of the deceased near the railroad tracks, and left the remaining victims in the shipping container.

The next day, the train departed south along its route to Laredo.

On May 10, a worker at the Union Pacific Rail Yard in Laredo saw a leg sticking out from a Conex shipping container, and six people were discovered deceased inside, according to the release.

San Antonio law enforcement later discovered the seventh victim deceased, abandoned by the railroad tracks in San Antonio.

Four of the deceased were Mexican nationals and three were Honduran nationals, including the 14-year-old child.

The investigation revealed that at least one victim messaged a loved one, pleading for help.

"By allegedly orchestrating this deadly human smuggling scheme, these defendants showed no regard for the value of human life and put people in harm's way to pad their own pockets," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Those who show a reckless disregard for the rule of law and treat human beings like cargo for their own financial gain will be held accountable under this administration."

"Seven people are dead as the result of another callous alien smuggling scheme," said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. "There have been multiple rail car alien smuggling interdictions over the last many months."

"This indictment reflects Homeland Security Investigation's (HSI) commitment to pursuing the criminal networks that profit by treating human lives as cargo," said Special Agent in Charge John A. Pasciucco of HSI San Antonio. "As alleged, this smuggling network used cargo trains and sealed shipping containers to move people into the country's interior, placing them in conditions that were inhumane and deadly."

Life Exposure, Task Force Prosecution, And What Happens Next

The superseding indictment charges 12 defendants with conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, and aiding and abetting the transportation of aliens resulting in death. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

11 defendants are charged with seven counts of aiding and abetting illegally bringing aliens to the United States. If convicted of at least three counts, they face a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

12 defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

11 defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The case is being investigated by HSI Del Rio, U.S. Border Patrol, HSI Laredo, HSI San Antonio, HSI Monterrey Mexico, HSI Honduras, HSI Houston, HSI Dallas, HSI El Paso, and HSI's Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., with assistance from agencies including Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S. Marshals, ATF, Union Pacific Railroad Police Department, and the Laredo Police Department, according to the release.

Trial Attorney Paige Petersen of the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Spears, Todd Keagle, and Ashley Ellis-Dotson for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

The case is supported by Joint Task Force Alpha, the Justice Department's lead effort against human smuggling and trafficking by cartels and transnational criminal organizations throughout the Americas. To date, JTFA's work has resulted in more than 486 domestic and international arrests, more than 447 U.S. convictions, and more than 374 significant jail sentences, the department reported.

The case is also part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings, according to the release.

What happens next is the defendants' prosecution in the Western District of Texas on the superseding indictment. Anyone with information about human smuggling activity is asked to contact Homeland Security Investigations or local law enforcement.

Sources

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "14 Charged in Deadly Human Smuggling Scheme That Killed 7 Aliens Earlier This Year," November 9, 2026: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/14-charged-deadly-human-smuggling-scheme-killed-7-aliens-earlier-year