WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned a superseding indictment charging a total of 14 individuals, including seven illegal aliens, three non-citizens, and four U.S. citizens, for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle aliens into the United States for profit. This included a failed human smuggling event that resulted in the deaths of seven people, including one child, who died after being loaded into a poorly ventilated shipping container.
“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. Cases like these are exactly why President Trump established the Homeland Security Task Force to strengthen our efforts to keep Americans safe from transnational crime.”
“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. Aliens found alive in those schemes will probably never realize how fortunate they are to have survived. To those who are placing their lives in the hands of dangerous alien smugglers, you must understand that there is no good outcome awaiting on this side of the border. Should you survive the journey, when we find you in the United States, you will be removed. To those alien smuggling organizations like the one responsible for these seven deaths, your date with American justice will come, and when it does, we will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
“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. HSI and our law enforcement partners will continue to identify, investigate, and hold accountable those who exploit vulnerable individuals for profit and endanger lives in the process.”
Defendants include Karina Garcia, 37, of Del Rio, Texas; Edson Alejandro Perez, 18, of Del Rio; Seferino Huerta-Casillas, 35, an illegal alien from Mexico; Jonas Ulloa-Aguilera, 25, an illegal alien from 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, an illegal alien from Mexico; Eric Hernandez, 40, of Eagle Pass, Texas; Franklin Williams Ayala Aguilera, 30, an illegal alien from Honduras; Pascual Raymundo Loarca, 34, an illegal alien from Guatemala; Juan Alvaro Membreno-Contreras, 40, an illegal alien from Honduras; Yuri Julissa Cuaresma Paredes, 34, of Honduras; and Mavis Aleyda Escalante Peraza, 38, an illegal alien from Honduras.
According to court documents, from at least April 2023 through May 12, 2026, the defendants and others operated a human smuggling organization that illegally used cargo trains to smuggle aliens further into the United States after smuggling them across the southern border from Mexico. Each smuggled alien, or their families and friends, paid smugglers in Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere between $1,500 and $10,000. The organization was comprised of multiple smugglers who worked in concert with other groups of smugglers to accomplish their goals. This included coordinating and utilizing each other’s routes, guides, stash houses, and drivers. Once smuggled into the United States, aliens were often housed at stash houses or hidden in the brush along the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas. The organization then loaded aliens into shipping containers to transport the aliens further into the interior of the United States. In February 2026, the organization began facilitating the smuggling of at least seven aliens, including one 14-year-old child from Honduras, into Del Rio. On or about May 9, after the smugglers illegally crossed the seven aliens from Mexico into the Del Rio area, the organization transported the aliens 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 aliens into the container, and then shut the door.
The shipping container was stacked on top of another and had no ventilation or cooling system. Based on the investigation, the recorded outside temperatures for that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit. It was secured from the outside and could not be opened from the inside. The train then departed Del Rio and traveled east along U.S. highway 90 to San Antonio. Once the train arrived in San Antonio, smugglers opened the door to the Conex container and discovered the aliens in peril. The smugglers then fled the scene, allegedly leaving one of the deceased near the railroad tracks. Smugglers 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. Upon inspection, six people were discovered deceased in the shipping container. Laredo law enforcement contacted San Antonio agents for assistance. Later, San Antonio law enforcement discovered the seventh victim deceased and abandoned by the railroad tracks in San Antonio. Four of the deceased were Mexican nationals and three were Honduran nationals, including a 14-year-old child. The investigation revealed that at least one victim messaged a loved one, pleading for help. A total of 14 defendants are charged with offenses relating to their involvement with this human smuggling organization. 11 of the defendants were indicted in July. 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. Additionally, 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. HSI received substantial assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center’s International Interdiction Task Force, Texas Department of Public Safety, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, Seguin Police Department, San Antonio Police Department, U.S. Marshals, ATF, Union Pacific Railroad Police Department, and the Laredo Police Department.
Trial Attorney Paige Petersen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Spears, Todd Keagle, and Ashley Ellis-Dotson for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
This case is supported by JTFA, the U.S. Department of Justice’s lead effort in combating human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations throughout the Americas. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking networks that impact public safety and border security. Led by HRSP and supported by other Criminal Division components, JTFA has dedicated prosecutors from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the Southwest border, Southern Florida, Northern New York, and Vermont. JTFA partners with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS components, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, HSI, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Office of Field Operations. JTFA also partners with FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 486 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and trafficking; more than 447 U.S. convictions; and more than 374 significant jail sentences imposed and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF comprises agents and officers from FBI; ICE HSI; DEA; ATF; U.S. Border Patrol; USMS; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Transportation; IRS Criminal Investigation; Texas Department of Public Safety; as well as local police departments and sheriff’s offices, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
