U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas reported that three Fort Cavazos soldiers were detained on criminal charges for allegedly participating in a plot to smuggle undocumented noncitizens.
Court filings state that on November 27, a U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agent stopped a car in Presidio, but the car ran away as the agent got close, colliding with another USBP car and wounding an agent inside. Four people, including three undocumented noncitizens, a Mexican national, and two Guatemalan nationals, were taken into custody by Presidio County deputies and local police officers after a brief pursuit.
The driver, identified as Angel Palma, fled on foot, but Emilio Mendoza Lopez, the passenger in the front seat, was taken into custody at the spot. The next day, Palma was found at an Odessa hotel. Mendoza Lopez and Palma are accused of picking up and transporting the undocumented people from Fort Cavazos to Presidio.
Enrique Jauregui, a third person, is charged with recruiting and facilitating the smuggling enterprise. The three troops’ cooperation in the plan was demonstrated by messages sent between them, according to data taken from Palma’s phone.
Mendoza Lopez, who is charged with one count of bringing in and harboring aliens, had his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge David B. Fannin on December 2. Palma and Jauregui will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Manske on December 6 after being taken into custody at Fort Cavazos on December 3. Each of them faces one count of assaulting a federal agent and one count of sheltering and bringing in foreign nationals.
The U.S. Border Patrol, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are leading the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Cayton.
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