Two Guatemalan men admit roles in smuggling case tied to fatal Mexico crash
The guilty pleas bring to five the number of defendants who have admitted roles in a case tied to a 2021 crash that killed 55 migrants in Mexico.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Two Guatemalan men have pleaded guilty in a US federal court in Texas to charges tied to a smuggling operation that ended in a deadly 2021 truck crash in southern Mexico, according to US prosecutors. The case centers on a packed tractor-trailer that overturned in Chiapas, killing 55 migrants and injuring more than 100, the US Department of Justice said.
Jorge Agapito Ventura, 34, and Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, 26, entered guilty pleas on Wednesday, prosecutors said. The Justice Department said both men admitted joining a conspiracy to move adults and unaccompanied children from Guatemala toward the United States for payment.
The men face possible life sentences, with sentencing set for October, according to prosecutors. Their pleas mean five of the six Guatemalan nationals charged in the case have now admitted their roles, while one case remains pending, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported.
US Attorney John E Marck said in a statement that the defendants treated the migrants as freight. “These defendants treated more than 150 people as cargo, packing them into a tractor-trailer for profit with total disregard for human life,” Marck said.
The crash happened in December 2021 near Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Mexico’s southern Chiapas state, according to authorities cited by Al Jazeera and Reuters. Survivors told authorities that about 166 migrants had been loaded into the trailer and that many had so little space they could only stand.
The truck overturned and struck the base of a pedestrian bridge, according to the Justice Department. Officials said at the time that the driver fled after the crash and appeared to have been speeding when he lost control on a sharp curve.
The Justice Department said the dead included a 16-year-old girl. The crash has been described by authorities as one of the deadliest human-smuggling disasters in recent years.
Prosecutors said Ventura helped coordinate parts of the smuggling operation from his home in Cleveland, Texas, in the Houston area. They said he provided co-conspirators, including Zavala Quino, with prepared false accounts that migrants could use if stopped by US immigration officers.
Prosecutors also said Ventura arranged for people to pose as relatives if migrants were detained and needed family members to press for their release. Zavala Quino was extradited from Guatemala to the United States in 2025, while Ventura was arrested in Texas in December 2024, according to the Justice Department.
Reuters reported that many of the migrants in the trailer had left poor communities in Guatemala in search of work in the United States. Families told Reuters that some had sold their homes to pay smugglers, believing the trip offered a chance at a better future despite the risks.
Three other defendants in the case pleaded guilty earlier this year, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Prosecutors said the remaining defendant’s case has not been resolved.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.