Smuggling Migrants In Carves And Water Tanks, Eight People Get Vulnerable: Billions Of Dollars Raup

Illustration of smuggling people. (Wikimedia Commons/US Customs and Border Protection)

JAKARTA - United States authorities launched an indictment on Tuesday in connection with lucrative human smuggling, allegedly including moving migrants in suitcases and water tanks from the US border with Mexico.

Eight people, mostly US citizens, were charged with their role in smuggling hundreds of people, some hidden in wooden crates on trailers with little ventilation, according to US officials and related court documents. Six other conspirators are mentioned in court records.

The indictment is part of a broader effort by President Joe Biden's Administration to destroy smuggling networks as border arrests near the 2 million fiscal year began last October.

US prosecutors identified Erminia Serrano pathra, a 31-year-old Texas resident known as 'Boss Lady', as the operations leader, who they said made at least millions of dollars.

Serrano left more than $1.3 million in two bank accounts between December 2017 and August 2021, but only reported $120,000 to financial institutions, prosecutors accused in a pretrial motion opened on Tuesday.

No lawyers for Serrano left behind are registered in the US court records database.

At a press conference in Washington Tuesday, US officials with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said smugglers allegedly don't care about human life and only care about profits.

"They are increasingly linked to cartels and there is more evidence of abuse, exploitation and violence they commit against migrants," said John Tien, Deputy Minister of DHS.

"For too long they have acted with impunity," he continued.

It is known that 53 migrants died after they were stuck in a hot tractor trailer in San Antonio during a failed smuggling attempt last June. As a result of the incident, four men, including the alleged driver, have been charged with charges by the authorities.