3 men charged with human smuggling; Authorities find over 50 migrants in semi

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A joint law enforcement operation led to the discovery of more than 50 migrants in a semi and a suspected stash house in El Paso, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas shared a news release about 237 new immigration-related criminal cases from Oct. 31 through Nov. 5.

Among the new cases, two U.S. citizens and a migrant from Mexico have been charged with human smuggling after authorities discovered a tractor-trailer carrying 53 migrants in El Paso.

USAO said on Oct. 28, the Horizon City Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a semi that Miguel Angel Debruhl allegedly drove. U.S. Border Patrol agents inspected the truck's cab and found a backpack with a large number of cell phones, USAO said. Authorities arrested Dehbruhl.

At the same time, the Texas Department of Public Safety pulled over a different semi that Alan Montelongo allegedly drove. USAO said authorities found 53 migrants sitting along both sides of the trailer.

Investigators learned Montelongo agreed to transport the migrants trhough the I-25 Border Patrol checkpoint in Las Cruces and would be paid $16,000 to split with Debruhl, USAO alleged.

The U.S. Border Patrol continued surveillance at a suspected stash house. USAO said Abel Delval-Dominguez, a migrant from Mexico, loaded groceries and trash bags into a pickup truck.

A criminal complaint alleged that agents previously saw Delval-Dominguez and the truck transporting migrants between the stash house and the truck yard from which Debruhl and Montelongo departed on Oct. 28.

Delval-Dominguez was arrested and charged with migrant smuggling along with Debruhl and Montelongo.