EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A man and a woman are facing federal felony charges for allegedly trying to smuggle two sedated foreign children into the U.S. this week through the Calexico West port of entry in California.
Ernesto Meza Cota and Nadia Meza drove up to the port Tuesday at 9 p.m. in a Toyota Highlander with four children in the back seats. The man asked for admission to the United States presenting a legal permanent resident “green card” and a U.S. passport card for his traveling companion. Court records show he pulled out passport cards for two of the minors and California birth certificates for the other two, who were sleeping. He claimed all were his children.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer inspecting the vehicle and its occupants, however, noticed two of the children looked very physically different from the sleeping minors. Records show the officer sent the vehicle to a secondary inspection area, where other CBP officers asked Meza Cota and Meza for additional documentation.
When the couple could not produce such documentation, an officer asked them to wake up the two minors. The officer asked one of the girls her name; she answered, but then said, “Oh, no!” and gave another name. Court records show the girl eventually stated her true name with the initials G.Y.G.G., and said she was traveling with her younger sister, L.W.G.G.
The officers removed the two girls, placed Meza Cota and Meza under arrest and allegedly found a bottle of sleep supplement gummies for children in the back. One of the girls allegedly told CBP Meza gave her and her sister two gummies each before crossing the border.
According to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Meza Cota told CBP he knowingly brought two minor females illegally into the United States to help his brother Cesar Armando Meza Cota pay a debt to an unidentified criminal organization in Mexico.
Meza Cota said his brother would receive a credit of $10,000 to his debt if he successfully smuggled the children into the U.S., according to the complaint. He was to call an unidentified individual once he got through.
The man said he “was forced” into child smuggling to keep his brother from harm.
Records show Meza Cota and Meza have been charged with felony transportation of illegal aliens. The older of the foreign girls, G.Y., is being kept as a material witness in the case. She and her sister, L.W., are citizens of Mexico. Authorities are trying to locate their parents.
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