A 20-year-old man indicted in an alleged immigrant smuggling scheme was under federal supervision when he led authorities in Texas on a high-speed chase and crashed an SUV, killing five of the 14 people inside, according to court records.
In this image tweeted by David Caltabiano of KABB/WOAI, a heavily damaged SUV is seen on Texas Highway 85 in Big Wells, Texas, after crashing while carrying more than a dozen people fleeing from Border Patrol agents, Sunday, June 17, 2018. (David Caltabiano/KABB/WOAI via AP)
Federal prosecutors said the driver, Jorge Luis Monsivais Jr., and four others were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Del Rio, Texas, for their roles in the alleged smuggling scheme. All five face multiple federal counts, including conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants.
Authorities say Monsivais crashed a Chevrolet Suburban as he entered Big Wells, a town about 100 miles southwest of San Antonio. Five immigrants in the U.S. illegally died from the June 17 crash.
At the time, Monsivais was on supervised release for a federal charge. Court documents show Monsivais was arrested "transporting" three immigrants to San Antonio for an average price of $1,500 per person. He had been sentenced to more than a year in prison and three years of supervised release.
A U.S. probation officer wrote in court documents that Monsivais had received his General Equivalency Diploma, completed substance abuse treatment and participated in a mental health assessment. But, the probation officer also wrote that his "reckless behavior" and "blatant disregard for the safety of humans" show he is not willing to comply with the conditions.
The crash happened after Border Patrol agents became suspicious of three vehicles traveling in a convoy between El Indio and Carrizo Springs, Texas. Two of the three vehicles fled when agents tried to make "immigration inspections."
The Suburban driven by Monsivais crashed. The other vehicle, driven by a 17-year-old boy, also fled from authorities but eventually pulled over. An affidavit said the teenager had been hired by Marcial Gomez-Santana, the driver of the vehicle that did not take off when agents approached.
Gomez-Santana is of the five defendants indicted Wednesday. Two others charged — Rudy Gomez of Hockley, Texas; and Johana Gomez of Houston — are his children.
Witnesses said Gomez-Santana and his son Rudy would call the family members of the immigrants to collect additional smuggling fees, according to court records. Witnesses also reported that Mariela Reyna, another indicted defendant, came to cook for the immigrants at a stash house at least two times.
Johana Gomez told authorities that one of the vehicles was registered to her boyfriend and she went to Eagle Pass to sell it. According to the affidavit, she later said her father "needed to use the vehicle for something."
The teenager driving the 2008 Tahoe said Johana Gomez "was present when he discussed his role" in the smuggling venture, according to the court records.
BERLIN (AP) — German authorities conducted a large-scale raid against an international human smuggling gang early Wednesday, police said in a statement.
More than 1,000 police officers searched dozens of homes, stores and offices across western and southern Germany and detained 10 suspects, including two lawyers.
A total of 38 suspected gang members, as well as 147 other people who allegedly paid to be smuggled by it, are being investigated, German news agency dpa reported. The two lawyers, 42 and 46 years old and from the Cologne area, are the main suspects, federal police in nearby Sankt Augustin said. The names of the suspects were not given, in line with German privacy rules.
The suspects are accused of having illegally taken advantage of special German immigration rules reserved for skilled foreign workers to obtain residency permits for around 350 mostly Chinese nationals — who don’t meet the needed criteria — in exchange for hundreds of thousands of euros (dollars).
Through their law firms, the two main suspects are said to have recruited wealthy foreign nationals for smuggling — mainly from China but also from Arab countries. Police said clients paid the law firms from 30,000 to 350,000 euros for illegal help with visas.
The suspected lawyers and their helpers allegedly used the money to set up fake companies, finance alleged residences and falsify alleged wage payments, keeping “not inconsiderable amounts” to enrich themselves, dpa reported.
The false residence permits were obtained from immigration offices in the western towns of Kerpen and Solingen, as well as Rhine-Erft and Dueren counties. One of the ten detained suspects is an city employee from Dueren, who was allegedly bribed to participate in the scam, dpa said.
Raids were carried out in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria, Hamburg and Berlin where police seized assets and collected evidence.
“So far, extensive evidence and not inconsiderable assets have been secured, including around 210,000 euros in cash," the authorities said.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser thanked police and prosecutors for the “massive strike against international organized migrant smuggling.”
“In the fight against smuggling gangs, we need precisely this high level of investigative pressure and this consistent crackdown,” the minister added. “We will continue this tough approach against organized migrant smuggling.”
The investigation focused on North Rhine-Westphalia, where the 10 suspects were detained.
Police officers stand near a building that is being searched in Solingen, Germany, Wednesday April 17, 2024. The Duesseldorf public prosecutor's office has arrested ten suspects in a large-scale raid against an international smuggling gang in eight federal states. More than 1000 officers from the federal police and the public prosecutor's office have been involved in the operation since the early morning. A total of 101 residential and business premises were searched. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
