A federal grand jury has indicted 11 people accused of operating a human smuggling ring linked to the deaths of seven migrants whose bodies were found inside a boxcar traveling from Del Rio to San Antonio, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
The indictment, returned Wednesday, charges the defendants with conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants resulting in death and aiding and abetting the transportation of undocumented immigrants resulting in death.
Those charged are Karina Garcia, Seferino Huerta-Casillas, Esdon Alejandro Perez, Mayra Alejandra Huerta, Jonas Ulloa-Aguilera, Maria Norma Neri de Moran, Damian Huerta Analucas, Pascual Raymundo Loarca, Eric Hernandez, Rosario Cristal Lopez-Saldana and Franklin Williams Ayala Aguilera.
Garcia and Huerta-Casillas remain at large, U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons said. During a news conference Friday, he urged anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact Homeland Security Investigations.
Simmons said four of the defendants are U.S. citizens, two are lawful permanent residents and five were living in the United States illegally. He did not identify which defendants fall into each category.
According to the indictment, the alleged smuggling ring operated from April 2023 through early May, when Laredo police officers discovered the bodies of six migrants — including a 14-year-old — inside a sweltering boxcar at a local railyard.
A seventh victim was found several days later near railroad tracks in southwestern Bexar County.
Authorities believe the victims were migrants from Honduras and Mexico.
According to the indictment, the smuggling ring transported the seven migrants from Mexico to a rail yard in Del Rio on May 9.
That afternoon, prosecutors say the group used bolt cutters to remove the lock from a boxcar and loaded the migrants inside before locking the boxcar from the outside. The indictment says the boxcar had no ventilation or air conditioning.
The train then traveled from Del Rio to San Antonio, where the alleged smugglers realized the migrants were “in peril,” according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say they abandoned one victim near railroad tracks in Bexar County and left the others inside the boxcar, which continued on to Laredo.