EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 35-year-old El Paso man pleaded guilty in federal court to smuggling children into the U.S. from Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the Western District of Texas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Manuel Valenzuela, 35, a permanent resident in El Paso, pleaded guilty in federal court to four charges related to his role in a scheme to smuggle children from Mexico to the U.S.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says members of a migrant smuggling organization brought unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 5 and 13 illegally into the U.S. from Juarez, Mexico.
The members also gave the children candy laced with THC to sedate them during smuggling events. The members would then present U.S. documents to inspecting officers, falsely claiming the documents belonged to the children and that they were the parents of the children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
During a smuggling event, one of the children was taken to a local hospital and diagnosed with THC poisoning, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Valenzuela conspired in the human smuggling scheme by picking up the children after they were smuggled into the country and providing payment to the drivers.
Valenzuela was arrested in August with co-defendant Dianne Guadian, a U.S. citizen. Valenzuela, Guadian, and two additional co-defendants, Mexican nationals Susana Guadian and Daniel Guadian, were charged in a five-count indictment on Sept. 24.
Valenzuela pleaded guilty on Nov. 6 to one count of conspiracy to transport migrants
and three counts of aiding and abetting in the smuggling of migrants for profit.
He faces a mandatory minimum of 11 years in prison.
Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, and U.S. Border Patrol led the investigation with assistance from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and Customs and
Border Protection’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force.
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