Fourteen people have been charged for allegedly smuggling illegal immigrants across the southern border.
The individuals are believed to be members of a “prolific alien smuggling organization,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Defendants were “responsible for transporting the aliens within the United States and concealing them in ‘stash houses’ along the way” to the southern border. In their efforts to smuggle the illegal immigrants, “defendants allegedly evaded law enforcement by traveling at high rates of speed on the road and instructing aliens how to flee U.S. Border Patrol and evade checkpoints.”
The indictment alleges that one migrant died from heat exposure.
Each defendant has been charged with “conspiracy to bring to, transport, and harbor illegal aliens in the United States” and faces up to 10 years in prison.
“Today’s indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle aliens into and throughout the United States at great danger to the aliens, resulting in the death of one person,” Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. “The Justice Department worked with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to dismantle an alien smuggling organization based in Mexico that has allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal aliens, including unaccompanied children, through New Mexico and South Texas. We are committed to eliminating transnational alien smuggling organizations that exploit migrants purely for profit and undermine our national security.”
American Faith reported that a Texas man was sentenced to federal prison in January after admitting to smuggling more than 2,500 illegal immigrants into the United States.
The Horizon City resident “admitted to smuggling over 2,500 undocumented noncitizens within approximately six months in 2023. Many car loads of undocumented noncitizens were transported to Albuquerque, New Mexico and on to other locations,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas said. “He also admitted to having a network of drivers to transport the undocumented noncitizens in at least 12 vehicles, which he obtained or helped others to obtain.”
