EL PASO, Texas — Federal authorities have charged an El Paso woman in connection with a migrant smuggling ring operating through New Mexico. Veronica Avalos was taken into custody last week at a gas station in Alamogordo, New Mexico, after allegedly assisting smugglers.
According to federal investigators, Avalos acted as a scout, using her cellphone to communicate with drivers transporting migrants through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. Highway 70. Authorities said she directed the driver of a vehicle carrying six migrants, indicating it was safe to pass.
Border Patrol agents became suspicious when a second vehicle approached the checkpoint. Several passengers were found attempting to conceal themselves in cramped positions, with restricted movement, according to court documents. Additional migrants were discovered hidden under a tarp in the vehicle’s cargo area.
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The investigation led authorities to co-defendant Santiago Perez Carrillo, an undocumented migrant who was driving one of the vehicles. Interviews with Perez helped pinpoint Avalos’s location at the gas station, where she allegedly awaited the group.
Federal prosecutors say Avalos and Perez admitted to assisting a coordinator in transporting migrants from the New Mexico area to destinations including Albuquerque and Atlanta.
Both Avalos and Perez Carrillo face charges in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, including conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants for profit, a felony offense.
