One adult, two "unaccompanied minors" busted in smuggling ring

1/19/2015

Driver claims immigrants asked him for a ride at gas station

A smuggling operation in progress was discovered during a traffic stop.

When a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper pulled the driver over for illegal window tint, he said the three passengers in his car asked for a ride while he was pumping gas, a criminal complaint filed in federal court reveals.

That’s when Border Patrol agents were called to the scene in McAllen. The three passengers admitted to have entered the U.S. illegally, documents say.

Rogelio David Maldonado, the driver, along with the three passengers were transported to the Border Patrol station in McAllen.

Maldonado told them he did not wish to speak while at the station, but agents documented they received written consent to search his cell phone. “Multiple texts” from a known smuggler were found on the phone, the criminal complaint says.

One of the immigrants present in the U.S. illegally told authorities how he crossed the Rio Grande and followed a foot guide before being picked up in a white vehicle.

When police stopped the vehicle, the driver exclaimed, “It’s over!” in Spanish. The immigrant identified the driver as Maldonado, authorities documented.

He was arrested on a felony charge Sunday, Jan. 11, and a court appoint attorney has been provided in the case due to financial limitations.

Two of those in Maldonado’s vehicle were unaccompanied minors.

 

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