Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 237 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Oct. 31 through Nov. 5, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced. He said the charges include alien smugglers and people with past convictions, including DWI, theft, prior removals and violent crimes. One case involves aggravated battery on a pregnant victim.
Two U.S. citizens and a Mexican national face alien smuggling charges after a joint law enforcement operation in El Paso. Horizon Police Department officers stopped a semi-truck driven by U.S. citizen Miguel Angel Debruhl on Oct. 28. Border Patrol agents allegedly found a backpack with a large number of cell phones inside the cab, and Debruhl was arrested.
A second semi-truck was stopped by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper the same day. According to a criminal complaint, the driver, U.S. citizen Alan Montelongo, consented to an inspection, which allegedly found 53 people in the trailer. The complaint alleges Montelongo agreed to transport them past the I-25 Border Patrol checkpoint in Las Cruces for about $16,000, to be split with Debruhl.