A grand jury in Las Cruces has indicted over a dozen alleged human smugglers believed to be part of a "sophisticated" criminal organization. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 14 people have been indicted on charges related to smuggling undocumented migrants from Mexico into the U.S. through the southern border. Documents released by the DOJ only list 12 suspects, as two names appear to have been redacted. Out of the 12, eight are from El Paso, three are from Ciudad Juarez and one is from Albuquerque. The suspects are... Suspects, Martinez, Jesus Calvillo, Jorge Calvillo, Palomino and Aguilar-Cano made their initial court appearance Monday in the District of New Mexico, meanwhile suspects Leslie Nicole Calvillo, Vargas and Jonathan Valdez-China will make their initial court appearance on Tuesday. Only Aguilar-Cano's mug was available on Dona Ana County's website. The DOJ didn't say who, but eight of the 14 suspects were arrested on Thursday and Friday. All suspects, if convicted, could get up to 10 years in prison, said the DOJ. According to the indictment unsealed Monday, the suspects are accused of smuggling undocumented migrants into the U.S., hiding them in several stash houses along the way, running from law enforcement by driving fast and teaching undocumented migrants how to avoid the U.S. Border Patrol. The indictment also alleges that during a smuggling run, one migrant died from the heat and was abandoned in the desert. According to the DOJ, this a result of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) and ICE HSI El Paso, who investigated the case with the help of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ICE HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alyson R. Hehr for the District of New Mexico and Trial Attorney Jenna Reed of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) are prosecuting the case. The indictment inspired law enforcement officials to release written statements calling the smuggling ring "sophisticated" and a "great danger." “Today’s indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle aliens into and throughout the United States at great danger to the aliens, resulting in the death of one person,” said Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Justice Department worked with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to dismantle an alien smuggling organization based in Mexico that has allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal aliens, including unaccompanied children, through New Mexico and South Texas. We are committed to eliminating transnational alien smuggling organizations that exploit migrants purely for profit and undermine our national security.” “Human smuggling organizations threaten our national security and exploit vulnerable individuals for profit, putting their lives at risk and undermining public safety,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin for the District of New Mexico. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of New Mexico is committed to continuing to work with our federal, state and local partners to dismantle transnational human smuggling organizations, hold their leaders accountable, and seize the illicit proceeds generated by these exploitative enterprises.” “We are appreciative of our brave law enforcement partners for their continued vigilance in investigating and apprehending members of transnational criminal organizations who conspire to undermine our nation’s immigration laws for their profit, with a callous and reckless disregard for the sanctity of life,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) El Paso Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens. “As this case sadly demonstrates, human smuggling is a crime that takes lives and puts the public at risk. ICE HSI is passionately devoted to using its abundant authority to identify, investigate, and arrest criminals who prey on the vulnerabilities of people they treat as human cargo.”
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