DOJ brought charges against 11 individuals in federal court.
A Texas woman and ten other defendants have pled guilty in a human smuggling and money laundering case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. The 32-year-old Texas resident pled guilty to smuggling hundreds of foreign nationals into and across the United States for profit. She ran an organization that charged around $8,000 per person to pick up migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border, often placing them in suitcases and driving them across the border in pickup trucks and tractor-trailers.
“The methods used by the organization to transport migrants placed their lives in danger, as they were frequently held in confined spaces with little ventilation that became overheated, and they were driven at high speeds with no vehicle safety devices,” the Department of Justice stated. “Members of the organization commonly referred to the migrants as ‘boxes,’ ‘packages,’ or ‘pieces.’”
The Joint Task Force Alpha, created by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 to address human trafficking, coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security to bring these indictments and convictions.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Attorney General Garland and members of the Joint Task Force Alpha as they address human smuggling.
- For DHS officials and Homeland Security investigators as they collaborate to prevent trafficking.
- For border officers and agents as they seek to ensure the safety of both U.S. residents and migrants.
Sources: Department of Justice
