Four people were arrested in Texas for smuggling children while posing as parents and sedating the victims with marijuana gummies while going through checkpoints.
The arrested individuals are all accused of smuggling unaccompanied children aged between five and 13 years from Juarez, Mexico, into the United States. They allegedly posed as the kids' parents when going through Border Patrol checkpoints.
Four Arrested for Smuggling Children
The suspects were identified as Mexican nationals Susana Guadian and Daniel Guadian, their daughter Dianne Guadian, who is a U.S. citizen, and legal U.S. resident Manuel Valenzuela, who resides in El Paso, Texas.
They have been charged in the Western District of Texas with conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens to the U.S. for financial gain. Now, Authorities are working on extraditing the Mexican nationals to the U.S. to face their charges.
The Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso, Jason Stevens, said the suspects would have drivers pose as the children's parents and provide U.S. documents. They then falsely claim that the documents belong to the kids who were being smuggled into the country, according to Fox News.
Read more: Dozens of 'Critically Missing' Children Rescued, 8 Suspects Arrested in Florida Operation
The criminal complaint in the case shows that the smuggling incidents occurred between May 1, 2024, and Oct. 18, 2024. In at least one of those events, one child was taken to the hospital after being given gummy candies laced with marijuana.
Stevens added that they have seen criminals use everything from Benadryl to these gummies to sedate children being smuggled. They usually bring the kids in overnight, between 10:00 a.m. and around 4:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m., when the children would normally be sleeping.
Using Marijuana Gummies as Sedatives
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that the drivers who brought the children into the country were paid $900 for every child that they were able to get in. Text messages from the investigation showed how one defendant and a co-conspirator would talk about the children as "products," News Nation Now reported.
Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said that when they see any child come across the border, they want to make sure that they are not abused or are not sedated by any type of drug.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the DOJ's Criminal Division added that the defendants allegedly risked the children's lives when they gave them the sedatives. He argued that targeting children in this way is "dangerous and cruel," as per The Center Square.
