Agents from the US Border Control’s Ysleta station were involved in the arrest of three suspected leaders of the smuggling gang.
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Juarez man allegedly responsible for the illegal crossing of at least 20 groups of migrants across the border wall is scheduled to appear in federal court in El Paso on Wednesday.
In addition to the human trafficking charges brought against him last January, Alexis Maldonado Muñoz, alias “Tarzan,” is also facing a far more serious charge: planning a murder in Mexico. This charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
A grand jury in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas indicted Maldonado on one count of conspiracy to commit murder abroad. The grand jury found that Maldonado “knowingly and willfully committed a conspiracy” to commit murder by “shooting and murdering” in Mexico an individual with the initials EGR who had been authorized to do so by an unnamed conspirator in the United States.
Further details about the alleged conspiracy, which was underway between December 28, 2023, and January 3, 2024, are not available because a judge has sealed most of the records, a common practice as other alleged conspirators remain under investigation.
Maldonado still faces the February 7 indictment of conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens into the country for financial gain. These charges carry fines and a maximum prison sentence of ten years.
According to the documents, Maldonado is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone on Wednesday for a status hearing on both charges.
U.S. authorities first encountered Maldonado when Border Patrol agents observed seven people coming over the border wall east of the Ysleta crossing. The group ran toward a nearby overpass but were detained by border agents.
Records show that Maldonado agreed to a lengthy interview with federal investigators in which he allegedly said he was a “guide on foot” and was paid by a smuggling organization in Mexico 4,000 pesos ($232) for each person he successfully escorts across the border wall and to a waiting driver.
Court records show he told investigators he smuggled illegal migrants from Mexico into the United States at least 20 times, with each group consisting of five to six migrants.
Maldonado was arrested around the same time that sources told NewsNation that the U.S. Border Patrol had arrested a “foot handler” from La Linea who was responsible for more than 40 illegal entries. It was never confirmed that the two could be the same person.
