A grand jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico, returned an indictment on February 19 against 14 individuals for conspiracy to transport, harbor, and bring undocumented migrants from Central and South America across the southern U.S. border; eight defendants were arrested on February 20 and 21. The indictment alleges the organization smuggled hundreds of illegal aliens, including unaccompanied children, while evading law enforcement at high speed and coaching aliens to flee Border Patrol. During one smuggling event, one person died from heat exposure and was abandoned in the desert.

Read more: Fourteen Members of Extensive Alien Smuggling Organization Charged and Eight Arrested for Smuggling Hundreds of Illegal Aliens into the United States