Guatemalan Human Smuggler Arrested For ‘Mass Casualty Event’ Hid Out In Colony Ridge

A Guatemalan illegal alien smuggler arrested in connection to a “mass casualty event” purchased multiple properties in Colony Ridge, a Texas land development that Daily Wire investigations revealed is a magnet for illegal aliens.

The Guatemalan national, Jorge Agapito Ventura, was arrested yesterday at his Colony Ridge residence just north of Houston in a joint operation by the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Liberty County Constable.

“The defendants conspired with other smugglers to facilitate the travel of migrants from Guatemala [through] Mexico with the intended destination of the United States,” the Department of Justice wrote in a press release detailing the arrest of Ventura and four others. “The defendants allegedly recruited Guatemalan migrants, collected payment, and arranged for travel to the United States,” it goes on to read, adding that the defendants trafficked unaccompanied minors whom they provided with scripts to recite if they were apprehended by authorities.

“Migrants destined for the United States were loaded into a tractor trailer that later crashed near Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, killing more than 50 people and causing serious bodily injuries to numerous others,” the unsealed indictment from the Department of Justice reads. The trailer was believed to have as many as 160 migrants in it at the time of the crash.

Ventura and the other alleged smugglers were charged with conspiracy to bring undocumented aliens to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injuries, and resulting in death.

Documents indicate that the Guatemalan human smuggler owned four properties in the Colony Ridge development, which The Daily Wire has reported is a “magnet for illegal immigrants.” The sprawling development, which plans to grow to a population of 250,000, markets to illegal aliens with advertisements that encourage buyers to “own land in the United States” and uses Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to process sales, which have heralded as a “powerful tool” for illegal immigrants who lack Social Security numbers.

Ventura bought one Colony Ridge property on September 30th of this year for $49,640, according to a warranty deed. The document is signed by Colony Ridge President John Harris.

But Ventura’s history with Colony Ridge extends back farther. Data from the Liberty County Clerk’s office indicates that the Guatemalan national has owned at least two other properties in the controversial development, including one that he acquired in 2019. The Guatemalan illegal alien smuggler’s properties were located in the Santa Fe section of Colony Ridge, the largest of the development’s six subdivisions.

Four other Guatemalan nationals believed to be involved in the deadly illegal alien smuggling operation were also arrested by Guatemalan authorities, the Department of Justice explained. The indictment also indicates that a sixth individual is wanted in connection with the mass casualty smuggling event, though the person’s name has not been released.

Ventura is not the only criminal living in Colony Ridge who has recently been apprehended by authorities. Two illegal alien murder suspects were arrested earlier this year.

One of the men, described by authorities as a “fugitive murder suspect wanted by Interpol,” had already been deported from the United States twice before establishing a residence in Colony Ridge.

Those two arrests came after a teen was allegedly abducted at gunpoint inside the development and was shot at as he fled his captors.

Colony Ridge is under legal scrutiny and faces a joint lawsuit from the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The suits allege that the development engaged in predatory lending practices, with the Department of Justice arguing that Colony Ridge engaged in “reverse redlining,” a method by which it specifically sought out Hispanic immigrants as customers, advertising them in Spanish while preparing loan documentation in English.

Paxton told The Daily Wire that “literally every sale” made by Colony Ridge could be in violation of consumer protection law.