Guatemalan National Admits Guilt in U.S. Federal Court Following Tragic Truck Accident in Mexico Resulting in Over 50 Migrant Fatalities

LAREDO, Texas – In a grim turn of events, a Guatemalan man has admitted his guilt in federal court over a fatal migrant smuggling attempt that ended in tragedy. The incident, which occurred in 2021, involved a crowded tractor-trailer crash in Mexico, resulting in the death of over 50 migrants.

Daniel Zavala Ramos, aged 42, confessed to his role in this harrowing event, pleading guilty to a serious felony charge in the U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas. He conceded to conspiring to illegally transport migrants from Guatemala, through Mexico, and into the United States, actions which placed lives in grave danger and led to both injuries and deaths. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Ramos could face a life sentence when he is sentenced on July 7.

Ramos is the first among six Guatemalans charged in connection to the tragic crash to be convicted. The remaining five defendants are scheduled for a final pretrial conference on June 3, as per court documents. Efforts to reach Ramos’ attorney for comment on this development were unsuccessful as of Wednesday evening.

The December 9, 2021, catastrophe unfolded when at least 160 migrants, predominantly from Guatemala, were crammed into a single truck. The vehicle tragically collided with the base of a pedestrian bridge, causing it to overturn. The chaos left at least 53 dead and over 100 injured. Disturbing video footage from the aftermath depicted a heartbreaking scene of bodies, both deceased and injured, strewn amidst the wreckage inside the collapsed freight container.

At least 160 migrants, many from Guatemala, were packed into the truck that hit the support base for a pedestrian bridge on Dec. 9, 2021, and overturned, authorities said. At least 53 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, officials said, and video footage at the time of the crash showed dead and injured migrants in a jumbled pile inside the truck’s collapsed freight container.

The Justice Department statement said the dead included unaccompanied children.

The crash occurred on a highway leading toward the Chiapas state capital, some 160 miles (260 kilometers) from Mexico’s border with Guatemala and about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) south of the Mexican border with Texas.

Authorities announced the arrests of Ramos and the five other defendants in Guatemala and Texas in 2024, on the third anniversary of the accident. Ramos was extradited in 2025 from Guatemala to face charges, the DOJ statement said.

Prosecutors said the Guatemalans conspired to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for payment. In cases of unaccompanied children being smuggled, the defendants would provide scripts of what to say if they were apprehended, authorities said.

The smugglers would move migrants on foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks and tractor trailers and use Facebook Messenger to request and deliver identification documents to the migrants to get them into the U.S., according to authorities.