{"id":16166,"date":"2026-07-24T23:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16166"},"modified":"2026-07-24T23:09:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:09:57","slug":"11-indicted-in-smuggling-deaths-of-7-migrants-in-rail-cargo-container-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16166","title":{"rendered":"11 indicted in smuggling deaths of 7 migrants in rail cargo container in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">A federal indictment was unsealed Friday against 11 people in the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/boxcar-train-deaths-laredo-texas-mexico-fdf03f56b3496f6ac063fa6337ce5ccb\">smuggling deaths of seven migrants<\/a>, including a 14-year-old boy, who were hiding inside a sweltering rail cargo container in Texas in May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Six people were <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/boxcar-train-deaths-laredo-texas-mexico-fdf03f56b3496f6ac063fa6337ce5ccb\">found dead inside the shipping container<\/a> in a rail yard in the Texas border city of Laredo, and another had been left for dead near the tracks along the way in San Antonio, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIn that kind of heat, it&#8217;s May in Texas, ultimately it\u2019s very hard to survive in an un-air conditioned, sealed container with &#8230; the temperature being what it was on that day,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The group boarded the train in the Texas border town of Del Rio intending to reach San Antonio, but when smugglers there opened the door, a man fell out, so they closed it and fled, Simmons said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The next day the train departed for Laredo, where a worker at the Union Pacific Rail Yard saw a leg sticking out and found the other six bodies inside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cOne of those individuals frantically contacted their family as they were dying from the sweltering heat in that container,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The migrants were from Honduras and Mexico and included a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. The Webb County medical examiner suspected the deaths were caused by hyperthermia, or heat stroke.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The shipping container, which was stacked on top of another container, could not be opened from the inside and had no ventilation or cooling system. The temperatures that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit (31 to 33 degrees Celsius), the U.S. Attorney\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The group was indicted on two charges: Conspiracy to transport aliens, resulting in death, and aiding and abetting the transportation of aliens resulting in death. Each is punishable by up to life in prison, Simmons said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The migrants paid \u201cgenerally the equivalent of $1,500-$10,000 to individuals in Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere, to be transported into the interior of the United States,\u201d according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">One of the defendants was arrested May 12 in Del Rio, and eight more were arrested over several days last week in central and south Texas. A man and a woman remain at large. Officials said four are U.S. citizens, two are permanent U.S. residents, and five were in the U.S. without legal status. They didn\u2019t specify the nationalities of the five.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Smuggling on trains has <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/mexico-migrants-injuries-hopping-freight-trains-8e55d3629a9d152516a0bd97f13e328d\">long been a concern<\/a> partly because U.S.-bound trains often slow or stop in Mexico before crossing the border, creating opportunities for smugglers or migrants to climb aboard or hide drugs or other contraband.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In 2023, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/migrant-deaths-train-car-texas-a446fe56c8e88cee3bec0b57f651c95a\">two people were found dead<\/a> who were among 17 people in two rail cars near Knippa, Texas, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of San Antonio and less than 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the U.S. border with Mexico.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And two smugglers were sentenced to life in prison last year for what remains the nation\u2019s deadliest human smuggling attempt across the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/border-security\">U.S.-Mexico border<\/a>. They were convicted in the deaths of 53 migrants inside a sweltering tractor-trailer in Texas in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Laredo is a particularly busy land port for U.S.-Mexico trade and a common nexus for the illegal movement of people. About 40 people were encountered daily in March crossing illegally by Border Patrol agents in the sector, making it the third busiest among nine along the border, according to the agency\u2019s statistics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal indictment was unsealed Friday against 11 people in the smuggling deaths of seven migrants, including a 14-year-old boy, who were hiding inside a sweltering rail cargo container in Texas in May. Six people were found dead inside the shipping container in a rail yard in the Texas border city of Laredo, and another&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.abcnews.com\/images\/US\/abc_news_default_2000x2000_update_16x9_992.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}