Mexican man charged in smuggling crash that left 6 dead

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 23-year-old Mexican man has been arrested and charged with smuggling migrants in a run that ended death for six migrants.

A statement Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Corpus Christi says Ivan Dario Puga-Moreno of Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico was arrested Thursday in Houston. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Police in Robstown, about 17 miles (27 kilometres) west of Corpus Christi, say its officers tried to stop a sport utility vehicle on suspicion of speeding late Tuesday, but the SUV got away. Hours later, Nueces County sheriff’s deputies found the SUV’s wreckage in a ditch, six of its occupants dead and nine others injured severely. The federal complaint says Puga-Moreno had been the driver of the vehicle containing 18 migrants and had fled the scene.