Ecuador police bust migrant smuggling ring; Guatemalan trafficker pleads guilty in US truck deaths

Ecuador's National Police dismantled a migrant‑smuggling network, dubbed “Fénix 335,” on 30 June 2026 in the provinces of Guayas and Bolívar. Three Ecuadorian nationals were detained for allegedly recruiting Ecuadorian citizens, including children, and selling clandestine routes to the United States for $19,000‑$20,000 per person. The operation moved victims through Mexico, with minors reportedly held in Jalisco before being abandoned at the U.S.–Mexico border. The investigation was coordinated with the United States diplomatic security service.

In a separate case, Guatemalan citizen Rigoberto Ramón Miranda Orozco pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to conspiracy to illegally bring migrants into the United States resulting in death. He was a key organizer of the June 2022 truck smuggling incident in San Antonio, Texas, that killed 53 undocumented migrants and injured 11. Arrested in Guatemala in August 2024 and extradited in March 2025, he faces a potential life sentence at his October 2025 sentencing hearing. The case underscores the lethal consequences of human‑smuggling networks.