A federal grand jury charged 14 people in a human smuggling conspiracy that left seven people, including a 14-year-old child, dead inside a sealed shipping container on a cargo train, Kind Joe reports. The Justice Department announced the superseding indictment, returned in the Western District of Texas, on November 9. The announcement came out of Del Rio, Texas.

The 14 defendants are seven illegal aliens, three non-citizens and four U.S. citizens, according to the department. Court documents say from at least April 2023 through May 12, 2026, the group used cargo trains to move people deeper into the United States after smuggling them across the border from Mexico. Each person paid between $1,500 and $10,000.

On or about May 9, 2026, smugglers took seven people, including a 14-year-old from Honduras, to the Union Pacific tracks in Del Rio, court documents say. While a train sat still, they cut the lock off a Conex container with red bolt cutters, loaded the seven inside and shut the door, the department says. On May 10, a worker at the Union Pacific rail yard in Laredo saw a leg sticking out of a container, and six people were found dead inside.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said seven people died in another callous smuggling scheme. The defendants now face prosecution in the Western District of Texas.