CNS News–A harrowing incident of human smuggling has culminated in a guilty plea by Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, a 31-year-old Mexican national, in a federal court in San Antonio. Covarrubias-Ponce admitted to his involvement in a smuggling operation that tragically resulted in the deaths of 53 migrants.
Covarrubias-Ponce faced charges of transporting and conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants, leading to death and serious bodily injury. The smuggling operation he was part of attempted to transport at least 66 individuals from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico into the United States.
The migrants endured extreme conditions, packed into a sweltering tractor-trailer with temperatures reaching up to 150 degrees. Discovered abandoned in June 2022 on San Antonio’s Southwest Side, this incident is regarded as the worst human smuggling disaster in the country, claiming the lives of 47 adults and six children.
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Covarrubias-Ponce coordinated with other organization members for the smuggling operation, overseeing the transport from Laredo to San Antonio. He faces a potential life sentence for his crimes. This case involves several other individuals, including Christian Martinez, who pleaded guilty to similar charges, and Homero Zamorano Jr, the alleged driver of the tractor-trailer. The federal indictment last year named seven people in total, with several cases still pending.