Two Guatemalan nationals have pleaded guilty to their roles in a massive human smuggling operation that resulted in a catastrophic 2021 tractor-trailer crash in Mexico, which killed 56 people and injured more than 100 others. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the pleas.
Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala and Alberto Marcario Chitic entered guilty pleas for conspiring to bring illegal immigrants into the United States, actions that placed lives in jeopardy and resulted in death. The two smugglers were among five Guatemalan nationals extradited to the United States in 2025 to face charges, while a sixth alleged co-conspirator was arrested in Texas.
Federal officials pointed to the crash as a tragic consequence of previous border policies. DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stated, “This is yet another example of how Biden’s open borders created a humanitarian crisis that allowed smugglers to profit off the deaths of illegal aliens. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of ICE, these criminal aliens have pleaded guilty, and they will soon face justice.”
According to prosecutors, the Dec. 9, 2021, crash involved a highly organized, profit-driven network that treated human beings “like a supply chain.” The smugglers recruited migrants in Guatemala, collected their money, and packed them into cattle trucks and tractor-trailers for the journey north toward the U.S. border.
The fatal wreck occurred just north of the Guatemala-Mexico border. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division wrote in a statement, “This tragic event shows that human smugglers do not care about the illegal aliens they come in contact with and transport despite the numerous risks, including extreme heat and dangerous travel conditions.”
Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck for the Southern District of Texas highlighted the calculated nature of the operation, revealing the smuggling network even “handed scripts to children so they could lie to law enforcement if caught entering the United States.”
The prosecution was spearheaded by Joint Task Force Alpha, a partnership between the Justice Department and DHS focused on dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations. The task force has reported more than 458 arrests and over 408 U.S. convictions of leaders and facilitators of illegal immigrant smuggling.