EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An employee of Mexico’s largest cargo train operator is sitting in a Texas jail on migrant smuggling charges.
Border officers detained Cesar Alexis Ayala Zapata last Saturday after he applied for admission to the United States at a port of entry in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Ayala’s name and telephone number allegedly came up in five different migrant smuggling events involving foreign nationals caught coming over from Mexico in railcars between April 13 and May 5. Court records show some of the migrants identified Ayala as the person in Mexico who told them how to conceal themselves to avoid or minimize the possibility of X-ray detection at ports of entry.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials handed over Ayala to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents the day of his arrest. The suspect waived his right to have an attorney present and allegedly admitted to the agents that he works for Ferromex and uses his position in the Mexican-owned railroad to facilitate migrant smuggling to the United States.
Court records show he stated “his role” in the transnational smuggling operation was collecting a smuggling fee down payment from the migrants. Ayala allegedly told HSI he was then tasked with staying in cellphone communication with the migrants as they passed from Piedras Negras, Mexico, to Eagle Pass.
Federal investigators allege they obtained wire transfer records made to Ayala dating as far back as January. The transfers totaled $11,464, which Ayala characterized as his payment from a smuggling organization, court records show.
Ayala made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on May 20. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew H. Watters of Del Rio, Texas, ordered him held without bond.
CBP regularly inspects cargo trains coming from Mexico. They use various means such as visual and physical inspections, X-ray scanners and the use of canines trained to detect drugs and other contraband, as well as people hiding in confined spaces.
Ferromex is majority-owned by Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico Transportes, with Union Pacific Corp. having a minority stake.
The company has a comprehensive written anti-corruption policy that extends to employees and clients. It includes theft, bribery, fuel theft and human trafficking. The company has a toll-free number in Mexico (800-1088-869) and an email (gmt@lineadedenuncia.net) so anyone can alert its officials to crimes.
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