May 19, 2009

BEST members arrest wife, husband team who allegedly smuggled aliens


EL PASO, Texas - A Lower Valley man charged with alien smuggling made his first appearance in federal court Monday after he was arrested by members of the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), which is led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).


According to a federal indictment, between April 12 and April 20, Carlos Gonzalez, Jr., 30; and his wife, Jenny Maria Herrera-Dozal, 31, conspired to transport and harbor individuals illegally in the country for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.

Gonzalez was arrested Friday at his home in the 8700 block of Buena Park. BEST members arrested Herrera April 21.

Herrera is charged with aiding and abetting bringing illegal aliens into the United States for financial gain; conspiring to transport illegal aliens; transporting illegal aliens for financial gain; conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens; and harboring illegal aliens. Gonzalez is charged with conspiring to transport illegal aliens, conspiring to harbor illegal aliens, and harboring illegal aliens. The aiding and abetting charge carries a mandatory minimum of three years in federal prison; each of the remaining counts call for a possible maximum of 10 years in prison.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court after Herrera's arrest reveals that on April 20, Herrera drove an Ecuadorian woman who was in the United States illegally to an Eastside business parking lot, where two men waited to deliver her to a truck driver. The truck driver was to transport the woman out of El Paso. According to the complaint, the smugglers charged the woman $14,000, and Herrera asked that the woman's relatives send an additional $4,700. Once the family paid the smugglers' fee, the Ecuadorian woman was to be reunited with her family in New York.

“Alien smuggling is a serious concern because of the vulnerability it represents to homeland security,â€