U.S. authorities on Thursday filed charges against a Guatemalan national who allegedly helped coordinate a human smuggling operation that ended with the deaths of 53 migrants in a sweltering semi-trailer in Texas.

Watch the press conference in the player above.

READ MORE: Semi-trailer driver tried to hide among survivors, Mexican official says; death toll rises to 53

Rigoberto Román Mirando Orozco is charged with six counts of migrant smuggling resulting in death or serious injury in the deadliest attempt from the U.S.-Mexico border. Authorities say he can be linked to four of the migrants in the trailer, three of whom died.

The number of arrests in connection with the San Antonio deaths in 2022 has risen to over a dozen and now extends to Central America after years of investigations into the deadliest smuggling attempt on the U.S.-Mexico border.

On Wednesday, Guatemalan authorities announced the arrest of seven people accused of helping to smuggle the migrants, including Mirando Orozco, the alleged ringleader whose extradition the United States had requested, Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told the Associated Press.

Jiménez said the arrests were made possible after 13 raids in three departments of the country. Police also seized vehicles and cash during the operations and rescued other migrants, Guatemalan authorities said in a statement.

“This is a joint effort by the Guatemalan police and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as other national authorities, to dismantle the structures of human trafficking. This is one of the strategic objectives of President Bernardo Arévalo to control the phenomenon of irregular migration,” said Jiménez.

Six people have already been charged, including Homero Zamorano Jr., who authorities say was driving the truck, and Christian Martinez, both of whom are from Texas and were arrested shortly after the migrants were discovered. Martinez has since pleaded guilty to smuggling charges, while Zamorano has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

REGARD: How US immigration policy forces migrants to take more dangerous routes

In 2023, four Mexican citizens were also arrested.

Authorities said the men were aware that the air conditioning in the trailer was not working properly and was not providing cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the three-hour drive from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio in sweltering heat.

When the trailer was opened in San Antonio, 48 migrants were already dead. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more died. Among the dead were 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador.

Authorities allege the men worked with human smuggling organizations in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, sharing routes, guides, hideouts, trucks and trailers, some of which were parked in a private parking lot in San Antonio.

Each migrant paid the organization up to $15,000 to be taken across the border. The fee was enough for up to three attempts to enter the country.

Guatemalan authorities accuse the group of having sheltered hundreds of migrants and transferred them to the United States over several years.

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas, and Pérez from Guatemala City.