Guatemalan National Extradited to the United States Admits to Role in 2021 Alien Smuggling Mass Casualty Event in Chiapas, Mexico

A Guatemalan national pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges related to the crash of a tractor-trailer in 2021 that was packed with at least 160 illegal aliens which resulted in the deaths of more than 50 people, including unaccompanied children, and injured over 100 more. The defendant is part of a group of six who were charged in this case. All six defendants have now admitted to their role in a conspiracy to bring illegal aliens from Guatemala into the United States.

Tomas Quino Canil, 38, a Guatemalan national extradited to the United States in 2025, acknowledged that he conspired with other smugglers to smuggle and transport illegal aliens, both adults and unaccompanied minors, from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States.

"Sadly, this preventable tragedy occurred because of these criminals' callous disregard for the safety of men, women, and children, and our immigration laws, which resulted in serious injury and death in Chiapas, Mexico," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "These defendants exploited vulnerable people and created an atmosphere with deadly consequences, all for money. These events will be investigated and prosecuted with the full resources of the Criminal Division."

"With Quino Canil's guilty plea, every member of this smuggling conspiracy has now been held accountable for one of the deadliest human smuggling tragedies in recent memory," said U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz for the Southern District of Texas. "These criminals packed more than 150 illegal aliens into a trailer like they were cargo. Fifty people then died at the hands of these foreign criminals. My office will continue hunting down anyone who profits from this trade in human suffering, no matter where they hide or how long it takes to bring them to American justice."

"This case stands as a stark reminder of the extreme dangers and devastating consequences caused by those who treat human lives as mere commodities," said Acting Executive Associate Director John A. Condon of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). "The callous actions of these smugglers resulted in unimaginable loss and suffering for dozens of families. HSI will relentlessly pursue those who orchestrate and profit from such horrific crimes. The successful outcome of this case would not have been possible without the outstanding collaboration of our domestic and international law enforcement partners, whose dedication and expertise were critical in bringing these criminals to justice and protecting the most vulnerable from exploitation."

Aliens paid Quino Canil and his co-conspirators to be smuggled into the United States. During the previous Administration's policy to parole illegal aliens into the United States, one of his co-conspirators also facilitated the release of Guatemalan aliens, who were smuggled illegally into the United States, from U.S. immigration authorities, to include unaccompanied minors. That co-conspirator provided co-defendants, including Quino Canil, with falsified scripts and instructions to provide to adults and unaccompanied minors on what to say to immigration officials if apprehended to secure their release.

On Dec. 9, 2021, Agapito Jorge Ventura, Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, Quino Canil and others arranged for the aliens they were smuggling to the United States to be loaded into a tractor trailer that was to transport them through Mexico. Over 150 illegal aliens, including adults and unaccompanied minors, were crammed into the trailer. The vehicle ultimately crashed north of the Guatemala/Mexico border near Tuxtla Guiterrez, Chiapas, Mexico, resulting in deaths and serious bodily injury.

Quino Canil, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an illegal alien to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injury, and resulting in death. He will be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Co-defendants Daniel Zavala Ramos, Josefa Canil De Zavala, Alberto Macario Chitic, and Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, were extradited from Guatemala in 2025 to face charges. Authorities arrested Jorge Agapito Ventura, 33, at his residence in Cleveland, Texas, in December 2024.

Zavala Ramos, 42, pleaded guilty on April 7. Canil De Zavala, 44, and Macario Chitic, 33, pleaded guilty on June 11. Agapito Jorge Ventura, 34, and Manuel Zavala Quino, 26, pleaded guilty on July 8. The guilty plea of Quino Canil marks the last of the six defendants to plead guilty to the conspiracy.

HSI's Washington, D.C. Field Office investigated the case in partnership with HSI Guatemala and HSI Mexico. Valuable assistance was provided by HSI's Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C.; HSI Houston; HSI Laredo; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)'s International Interdiction Task Force; U.S. Border Patrol (USBP); Liberty County Constable, Precinct 6; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston; U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas; and the Criminal Division's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT). The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions of the defendants. Guatemalan prosecutors from the Office of Public Ministry and Mexican Federal and State authorities including prosecutors from the Republic of Mexico's Federal Prosecutions Office and the State of Chiapas, 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 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 investigation and charges are supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department's lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA's mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean, and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including HSI, U.S. Border Patrol and CBP's Office of Field Operations, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA's work has resulted in more than 465 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 419 U.S. convictions; and more than 363 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.

This case is also 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