A Mexican national was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison after admitting to participating in a human smuggling operation that prosecutors say used THC-laced candy to sedate children as young as 5 before bringing them across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Federal prosecutors said one child suffered THC poisoning and was hospitalized after being given the drug-laced candy during one of the smuggling operations.
Manuel Valenzuela, 35, pleaded guilty last November to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens, three counts of bringing aliens into the United States for financial gain and one count of aiding and abetting.
Valenzuela was one of four people charged last year in the alleged smuggling scheme. Prosecutors accused the group of transporting unaccompanied children between the ages of 5 and 13 from Juárez, Mexico, into the United States.
According to court documents, the smugglers presented U.S. identification documents to border officers while falsely claiming the children were their own parents.
Prosecutors said the children were then transported to El Paso after crossing the border.
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Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division condemned the scheme, saying, “Needing to sedate children with THC under the guise of giving them candy shows just how heinous crimes like this are.”
“Smuggling unaccompanied children into the country, pretending to be their parents, and then lying to U.S. immigration officials shows the lengths to which criminals like this will go to smuggle children across our borders,” Duva continued. “The Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners will put an end to this conduct. Protecting children and keeping our borders safe go hand-in-hand.”
Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan McRae of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso said using children in smuggling operations shows a “total disregard for human life and safety.”
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“Using THC-infused candy to facilitate the smuggling of children across the border into the United States is reprehensible and cruel and puts vulnerable minors at serious risk,” McRae said. “HSI will relentlessly pursue transnational criminal organizations responsible for these heinous tactics and bring them to justice.”
According to the criminal complaint, the smuggling events took place between May 1 and Oct. 18, 2024.
Prosecutors said proof-of-life photographs of some of the children were recovered from the suspects’ cellphones.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.