Key facts
- Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala and Alberto Marcario Chitic pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges.
- The charges are linked to a 2021 tractor-trailer crash in Mexico that killed 55 migrants.
- The defendants admitted to conspiring to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S.
- The crash involved 166 migrants packed into a tractor-trailer that overturned.
- Both defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Two Guatemalan nationals, Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala and Alberto Marcario Chitic, have pleaded guilty in a Texas federal court to charges related to human smuggling. Their pleas stem from a devastating tractor-trailer crash in Mexico in December 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 55 migrants packed inside the vehicle.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, both defendants admitted to conspiring to smuggle adults and unaccompanied children from Guatemala through Mexico into the United States. The operation involved cramming an estimated 166 migrants into a tractor-trailer that overturned and crashed into a bridge abutment near Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas, Mexico. The victims were predominantly Guatemalan, with some injured individuals from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ecuador, and Mexico.
Survivors recounted being packed so tightly into the trailer that standing room was minimal. The crash was among the deadliest migrant-smuggling incidents in Mexico in a decade. Canil De Zavala and Chitic each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport an illegal alien, causing serious bodily injury resulting in death. They face a maximum penalty of life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for September 9.
Acting U.S. attorney John Marck described the operation as a calculated effort that moved people like a supply chain, collecting money and using dangerous methods like cattle trucks and tractor-trailers. He also noted that unaccompanied minors were provided with scripted responses for law enforcement encounters. Five other Guatemalans were accused in connection with the operation, with Daniel Zavala Ramos having already pleaded guilty in April. Cases against the remaining three are ongoing.