SAN ANTONIO — One year ago Tuesday, 53 migrants were found dead and 11 others injured in the back of a tractor-trailer with a compromised air supply. Victims included children as young as 13 years old. It was the deadliest human-smuggling event in U.S. history. Coinciding with the one-year mark, the U.S. Department of Justice announced four more arrests in the case, bringing the total to eight. 

Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres, 28; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 37; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 53, allegedly took part in a human smuggling organization which illegally brought adults and children from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico into the United States, according to officials.

In the initial aftermath, Homero Zamorano Jr., the alleged driver, and Christian Martinez were arrested and charged on counts of transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally, resulting in death and serious injury.

If convicted on the top counts, they each face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Much like the unbearable temperatures this year, the Texas heat had reached record-breaking highs during the summer of 2022. The newest indictment alleges that the men knew that the trailer’s air-conditioning unit was malfunctioning and would not blow any cool air to the migrants inside.

“This horrific tragedy underscores the callous disregard criminal smuggling organizations have for human life, including the lives of children,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

A survivor of the incident recalled it already being hot before even cramming into the trailer. Inside, the smugglers had covered the floor of the trailer with chicken bouillon to throw off the scent from dogs at checkpoints.

“The people were yelling, some cried. Mostly women were calling for it to stop and to open the doors because it was hot, that they couldn’t breathe,” said Cardona Tomás, who survived along with her friend.

The trailer was found on a back road in San Antonio packed with 67 people, including 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, according to Mexico officials.

Police arrested two more Mexican men living in the country illegally after police found the semi-truck was registered to a home in north San Antonio, according to arrest documents. Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao were charged with being in possession of a firearm while in the country illegally. The pair were not charged with the smuggling of migrants into the U.S.