Three Fort Cavazos soldiers have been accused of a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Justice.
The Texas-based soldiers were caught on Nov. 27 allegedly driving three people — one Mexican national and two Guatemalan nationals — after a United States Border Patrol Agent initiated a vehicle stop in Presidio.
An agent approached the vehicle, which then fled and “struck a second USBP vehicle, injuring an agent inside,” the DOJ said.
Inside a cartel’s human-smuggling operation
Police eventually stopped the vehicle and apprehended the three undocumented immigrants, as well as one of the soldiers, identified as Emilio Mendoza Lopez.
The car’s driver, who was allegedly Angel Palma, “fled on foot and was located the following day at a hotel in Odessa,” prosecutors said.
The sign at the main gate of Fort Cavazos in Killeen, Texas, May 9, 2023.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman/USA TODAY NETWORK
The Department of Justice has accused Mendoza Lopez and Palma of traveling to the Army base to Presidio “for the purpose of picking up and transporting undocumented noncitizens.”
A third soldier, identified as Enrique Jauregui, has been accused of recruiting and facilitating the scheme
