Guatemala charges 10 for 2021 trip when migrants were slain

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Guatemala have charged 10 members of a smuggling ring that allegedly organized a 2021 trip during which 15 migrants were killed in northern Mexico. Prosecutors said Friday the suspects are charged with criminal conspiracy, money laundering, human trafficking and other crimes. A dozen members of an elite Mexican state police unit have been charged there with the January 2021 killing of 19 people, including the 15 Guatemalan migrants. A migrant trafficker, two Mexicans and an unidentified person were also among the dead. The motive for the killings remains unclear. Prosecutors say the smuggling ring continued sending migrants on a route that includes northern Mexico even after the slayings. The migrants were trying to reach the United States.