EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two siblings are facing smuggling charges after stopping for gas in a small town in Texas with a big migrant detention center earlier this week.
The arrest of Sebastian Ruiz and Jesus Ruiz, aka “Gabriella Ruiz Murillo,” took place after a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Dilley, Texas, received an alert regarding a gray Chevrolet Traverse that allegedly bypassed highway immigration checkpoints in South Texas.
Dilley is home to the South Texas Family Residential Center, a 2,400-capacity U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility run by a private contractor.
The agent reported noticing the SUV was “riding low in the rear” as if carrying too much weight as it proceeded to a gas station at the intersection of State Highway 117 and Interstate 35.
The agent pulled up near the vehicle and witnessed the passenger go inside the building while the driver “began exhibiting nervous behavior,” including looking frequently into the mirror, taking selfies with a cellphone and applying lip gloss, federal court records show.
The agent turned off his vehicle and the driver got out and started to walk away; the agent then approached the driver and began asking questions, records show.
The driver allegedly was uncooperative and told the agent, “You are not my attorney. I don’t have to talk to you.”
Additional border agents arrived at the convenience store and the driver and passenger agreed to cooperate with an immigration inspection, records show.
Border agents opened the door and observed “a pair of feet sticking out” from an open vehicle sunshield in the back. In total, they found four adults and two underage Mexican citizens illegally present in the United States inside the SUV, according to a complaint affidavit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
In a later interview with Homeland Security Investigations agents, Gabriella Ruiz Murillo allegedly stated the migrants were dropped off outside a relative’s home in Crystal City, Texas, by an unknown individual.
Sebastian Ruiz allegedly told agents he was to be paid $1,500 for driving the migrants to San Antonio, court records show.
The adult migrants told investigators they paid between $6,500 and $7,000 to be smuggled from Mexico to the U.S. and then be transported to the interior of the country.
Sebastian and Jesus Ruiz were charged Tuesday with transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain. They have a detention hearing scheduled on Oct. 7 in San Antonio. The migrants have been placed in removal proceedings.
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