A migrant who had appeared in a "proof of life" social media video in which he thanked human smugglers for helping him enter the U.S. was one of nine individuals arrested following a traffic stop in Texas.
The U.S. Justice Department alleges that two men from Honduras, Edgar Osmery Castellanos-Sabillon and Fernando Josue Betanco-Montoya, were transporting seven other individuals into the U.S. when they were stopped by police near Wichita Falls on March 8.
Border Report detailed that Castellanos-Sabillon and Betanco-Montoya were indicted by a federal grand jury this week on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.
Castellanos-Sabillon was identified as the driver of the vehicle and Betanco-Montoya was in the front passenger seat. Seven additional individuals with foreign passports from Cuba, Guatemala, and Mexico were also crammed into the vehicle, according to federal prosecutors.
During the investigation, federal law enforcement learned that one of the smuggled aliens was identified as being wanted in a Ysleta Border Patrol case. The individual allegedly made a social media post thanking two known smugglers and indicating that he had crossed into the U.S. illegally, the Justice Department stated.
All nine individuals were transported to El Paso for prosecution.
The complaint alleges that Castellanos-Sabillon and Betanco-Montoya were identified as the caretakers of a stash house in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they housed and after they smuggled them from El Paso and before taking them to Dallas.
According to Border Report, both men consented to searches of their cell phones. The website reported that authorities found communications about human smuggling and video evidence of the stash house.
