14 indicted on smuggling charges
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A grand jury in Las Cruces just indicted fourteen people accused of conspiracy to transport, harbor, and bring in migrants illegally into the country. Officials arrested eight of the fourteen accused late last week.
Prosecutors list the accused as follows: Michelle Martinez, 29, of El Paso, Texas; Jesus Calvillo, 44, of El Paso; Jorge Calvillo, 25, of El Paso; Abel Aguilar-Cano, 53, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jose Palomino, 27, of El Paso; Edna Valdez-China, 48, of El Paso; Leslie Nicole Calvillo, also known as Leslie Jaramillo, 24, of El Paso; Melissa Vargas, 22, of El Paso; Jorge Alberto De La Cruz-Dominguez, also known as Guero, 54, of Juarez, Mexico; Jorge Valdez China, also known as Lolo, 23, of El Paso; Jonathan Valdez-China, also known as China and Dior, 24, of Juarez; and Alma Guadalupe Valdez-China, 41, of Juarez.
The unseal indictment states that the defendants conspired to illegally transport migrants from Mexico to the U.S., as well as within the U.S. The indictment states that the accused allegedly used stash houses to conceal the migrants during transportation.
"During some of the smuggling events, the defendants allegedly evaded law enforcement by travelling at high rates of speed on the road and instructing aliens how to flee U.S. Border Patrol and evade checkpoints," a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico explained. "Additionally, the indictment alleges that one undocumented alien died from heat exposure during a smuggling event and was abandoned in the desert."
