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Underestimating the potential danger of human smuggling can have a deadly outcome.

Moving human beings as cargo pays in the billions of dollars for transnational criminal smuggling organizations.

Human smuggling is the illegal importation of people into a country via the deliberate evasion of immigration laws. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) serves as the leading U.S. law enforcement agency responsible for the fight against human smuggling.

“They have no concern for humanity, none; it’s a money business,” said Jack Staton, acting special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, Texas, “they look at people as merchandise, as a way to make money.”

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Value of life lost in human smuggling

Located between Carrizo Springs, Texas, nearby Laredo, and the United States-Mexico border are some of the largest ranches in the Lone Star state. The massive landscape provides some of the most picturesque images in the country, but in its shadows, some of the most inhumane activities a person can imagine take place, all in the name of human smuggling.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the lead U.S. law enforcement agency responsible for fighting human smuggling and human trafficking. Human smuggling is the importation of illegal aliens into the U.S. via the deliberate evasion of immigration laws. It includes bringing illegal aliens into the U.S., as well as the unlawful transportation and harboring of aliens already in the country illegally.

Illegal aliens risk everything when they come across the border. They have no rights, no freedom and are at the mercy of their smugglers or captors. READ MORE

"This case represents the worst in human smuggling."

In May 2014, HSI Eagle Pass responded to a call from the United States Border Patrol in Carrizo Springs about a potential kidnapped illegal alien. The call came from a family member who claimed the illegal alien was being held and tortured by captors and were demanding smuggling fees be paid. As HSI Eagle Pass pursued the lead, it determined that Eduardo Rocha, Sr. ordered his accomplices to torture the illegal aliens being held captive in an effort to extort money family members.  They documented an instance where the smugglers raped one captive repeatedly, and tortured another with a hammer, threatening decapitation and mutilation. READ MORE

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