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.
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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…