EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A U.S. citizen awaiting trial on human smuggling charges has been arrested in New Mexico for allegedly trying to drive additional migrants to Arizona.
Border Patrol agents began tracking Isaac Andrew Rosales as he drove a gray Dodge Ram pickup with a red camper shell past their vehicle along NM State Road 9 in the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 29.
Court records show the agents noticed the vehicle appeared to be carrying too much weight and followed it; the driver appeared to speed up, then suddenly stepped off the gas pedal.
The agents turned on flashing lights and stopped the vehicle 2 miles north of the U.S. border wall near milepost 69 of the road also known as the Columbus Highway and often used by migrant smugglers, court records show.
The agents allegedly found Rosales traveling with a female companion in the cab named Stephanie Valles and 10 undocumented migrants concealed in the back of the cab and the bed of the Ram.
The suspected smugglers and the migrants were taken to the Border Patrol’s Deming, New Mexico, station, where Rosales was questioned and allegedly told investigators he became interested in transporting migrants for money after discovering a social media platform where smugglers solicit drivers.
According to a complaint affidavit, Rosales said Valles contacted him on Sept. 28 with a smuggling opportunity and offering to cut him in on 50 percent of the fee. The two met up that night and drove to Santa Teresa to await instructions through a messenger app of where to pick up the migrants, the complaint alleges.
The two were directed to mile marker 120 of the Columbus Highway, picked up the migrants and started a roundabout drive to Arizona when they were stopped by the Border Patrol, court documents show.
The affidavit alleges Valles gave a similar account to investigators, who arrested the two on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit.
During questioning, Rosales allegedly told federal investigators that he has been arrested on two previous occasions on migrant smuggling charges, and is currently awaiting trial on one of those charges.
The suspects made an initial appearance on the charges in federal court on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian L. Martinez in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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