Manuel Valenzuela, 35, will spend five years in a US prison. He helped sneak young kids across the border. He used candy filled with THC to make them sleepy and quiet.
A federal court handed down the sentence earlier this month. The case happened near El Paso, not here in the Rio Grande Valley. But it shows a trick that could show up on any part of the Texas border, this one included.
Court papers say Valenzuela and other members of a smuggling group brought kids into the US from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The kids were between 5 and 13 years old. None of them had a parent along for the trip.
The smugglers gave some kids candy filled with THC, a drug found in marijuana. The candy made the kids sleepy. That made them easier to move. It also made them less likely to cry out or fight back.
One of the kids was given the candy and got very sick. That child had to go to the hospital. Doctors said the child had THC poisoning.
The smugglers also lied to border officers. They showed fake US papers. They said the kids were their own children. Agents later found photos of the kids on the smugglers' phones. Photos like this are sometimes used to show a family back home that a child made it partway.
Valenzuela pleaded guilty this past November. He admitted to one charge of planning to move people into the country illegally. He also admitted to three charges of bringing people into the US for money. He admitted to one more charge of helping others do the same crime.
Prosecutors say the smuggling ran from May to October of 2024. Homeland Security agents in El Paso led the case. The US Border Patrol helped too. So did a federal team called Joint Task Force Alpha. That team goes after big smuggling gangs across the whole country. So far, it has led to more than 460 arrests and over 400 convictions.
A top Justice Department official did not hold back. His name is A. Tysen Duva. He called the scheme "heinous." He said drugging kids with candy shows just how far these criminals will go.
A Homeland Security agent in El Paso did not hold back either. Ryan McRae called the trick "cruel." He said it puts kids in serious danger.
Three other people were charged along with Valenzuela in the same case. It is not yet clear what happened to them. This case is part of a bigger push by the Justice Department. It is called Operation Take Back America. The goal is to go after cartels and smuggling gangs that move people and drugs across the border.
Federal leaders say they want this case to send a warning. Smuggling groups that put children at risk will face years in prison, not just a fine or a quick trip back home. For now, Valenzuela sits in federal custody. He will serve out his five year term.
