Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department announced today that three Guatemalan nationals charged in connection with the Dec. 9, 2021 mass casualty event in Chiapas, Mexico, have been extradited from Guatemala to the United States to face prosecution. The crash of a tractor-trailer packed with at least 160 illegal aliens – many of them Guatemalan – killed more than 50 people, including unaccompanied children, and injured over 100 more.
Yesterday’s extraditions are the result of sustained coordination between the Justice Department and Guatemalan authorities following an international enforcement operation carried out on Dec. 9, 2024, the third anniversary of the tragedy. The extraditions mark yet another significant step in the Justice Department’s efforts to bring those responsible to justice.
“This DOJ is investigating and prosecuting human smuggling more aggressively than ever before, and Joint Task Force Alpha is the tip of the spear,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will not rest until those who profit from the suffering of vulnerable people — including many unaccompanied children — face severe, comprehensive justice.”
“Five Guatemalan smugglers charged in the Chiapas mass casualty incident are now in U.S. custody,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case demonstrates the ability of Joint Task Force Alpha and its domestic and international law enforcement partners to dismantle the most lethal human smuggling networks. Human smuggling organizations profit by exploiting the vulnerable, putting lives at grave risk for financial gain. Even those smugglers who try to hide beyond the reach of the U.S. will be brought to justice for the death and suffering they have caused.”
“Human smugglers do not care if the people they transport live or die,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei of the Southern District of Texas. “They do not care if unaccompanied children have food, water, or even air to breathe. They respect neither the law nor basic principles of decency. They care for only one thing — the blood money they make from the suffering of others. But these extraditions show that the United States will never tire in pursuing them. There is no border, no refuge that can shield these criminals from justice.”
Tomas Quino Canil, 37; Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino also known as Osvaldo ZQ, 25; and Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala, 43, were arrested in Boquerón, Guatemala on Dec. 9, 2024, pursuant to U.S. extradition requests, and were surrendered to U.S. authorities on Sept. 3, 2025. A fourth Guatemalan national, Daniel Zavala Ramos also known as “Dany ZR,” 41, was arrested on Aug. 7, 2025 in Boquerón and is pending extradition.
Two additional defendants were also arrested during the coordinated operation. Alberto Marcario Chitic also known as Alberto De Jesus, 32, was also arrested in Boquerón on Dec. 9, 2024, and extradited to the United States in May 2025. Jorge Agapito Ventura also known as Jorge Ventura, George Ventura, and El Raitero, 33, was arrested at his residence in Cleveland, Texas.
All six defendants are each charged in the Southern District of Texas with conspiracy to bring undocumented aliens to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injury, and resulting in death. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
According to court documents, from Oct. 2021 to Feb. 2023, the defendants conspired with other smugglers to transport undocumented aliens from Guatemala though Mexico to the United States. They allegedly recruited Guatemalan aliens, collected payment, and arranged for the aliens to travel by foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks, and tractor-trailers. In some instances, including the smuggling of unaccompanied minors, the defendants provided scripts and instructions on what to say if apprehended. Some of the aliens recruited by the defendants died or suffered serious bodily injury as result of the Dec. 9, 2021, crash.
HSI’s Counter Proliferation Investigations Group in Washington D.C. investigated the case in partnership with HSI Guatemala and HSI Mexico. Valuable assistance was provided by HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit; HSI Houston; HSI Laredo; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center; Operation Sentinel; U.S. Border Patrol; Liberty County Constable, Precinct 6; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division; and the Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions of the defendants. Guatemalan prosecutors and Mexican prosecutors from the Republic of Mexico’s Federal Prosecutions Office also known as Fiscalía General de la República (FGR), with the support of law enforcement officials from both countries, were also instrumental in furthering the investigation.
Senior Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Lou Castillo and Jennifer Day for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from HRSP Latin American Specialist/Historian Joanna Crandall.
The indictment of these defendants is the result of the coordinated efforts of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Joint Task Force Alpha. JTFA, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been elevated and expanded by the Attorney General with a mandate to target cartels and transnational criminal organizations to eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA is currently comprised of detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along southern and northern borders. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by HRSP and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the Office of Enforcement Operations, and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 410 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling; more than 355 U.S. convictions; more than 305 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhood.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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