ICE arrested six people accused of participating in a human smuggling ring that left nine men dead after van carrying 18 immigrants rolled over.
Further investigation led agents to Mexican national Jose Vega Zapata, 36, and U.S. citizen Luis Julian Vargas, 20, the complaint says.
Seven charged in van wreck that killed 9
On Wednesday funeral home personnel prepare to pick up a body at the scene of Tuesday'swreck involving a van carrying suspected undocumented immigrants in Palmview. Nine people
were killed and seven were hurt in the crash.
By JARED JANES/The Monitor
PALMVIEW — Seven people — including the 15-year-old driver — have been arrested following a fatal van rollover that killed nine undocumented immigrants Tuesday night along Expressway 83.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested six people accused of participating in a human smuggling ring that left nine men dead after a Chevrolet Astro Van carrying 18 immigrants rolled over about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday along an expressway frontage road.
The criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in McAllen came a day after Palmview police arrested the minivan’s 15-year-old driver, who could be charged as an adult for his role in the fatal accident.
The van filled with the immigrants had been headed north to drop people off in the brush so they could walk around a Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita, the criminal complaint filed Friday states.
The six-page complaint filed in federal court outlines the accusations against the smuggling ring and details events and background information.
Late Tuesday night, Border Patrol agents attempted to stop the gray minivan suspected of transporting undocumented immigrants along Green Road in Palmview — a few blocks from a stash house that was to be used, authorities said.
Carmelo Diaz Gopar, 25, bailed out of the minivan during a traffic stop before the van’s 15-year-old driver sped away from the scene, authorities said.
A Border Patrol agent chased Diaz and apprehended and arrested him, the complaint states.
Excessive speed led to the van’s rollover along eastbound Expressway 83 frontage, resulting in the death of nine of the 16 immigrants inside, the complaint states.
The 16 immigrants in the van counters previous statements by police that 18 people had been in the vehicle when it rolled over., not counting Diaz, who jumped out just before the wreck.
The remaining seven were taken to local hospitals.
Stash house
ICE agents learned the immigrants were going to a stash house at 702 Greenland Circle, Palmview, and that other immigrants were still there, the complaint states.
Agents detained 12 undocumented immigrants at the stash house, a newer gray brick home that would have appeared to house a family rather than migrants heading north. A barbecue grill and Foosball table stood on a porch in the back, along with a dog that remained sleeping near its house under a tree Friday afternoon.
In addition to the dozen immigrants, agents detained U.S. citizen Gloria Solis, 26; Mexican national Alexander Barrios Grajales, 27; and Mexican national Alejandro Garcia Nava, 18, for allegedly harboring the immigrants at the house.
Diaz told agents he was "simply" an immigrant heading to Atlanta, Ga., and that he had not paid anyone to smuggle him. He said he planned on paying his smuggling fees after arriving in Georgia, where he would work off the debt.
Solis told agents the house was owned by her mother, who lives in New York City. She admitted she was hired to allow illegal immigrants to stay at the house before they were move elsewhere, the complaint states.
Solis told agents she received $20 for each illegal immigrant at the house. On Tuesday night, there were 23 immigrants there.
Barrios told agents he had known Solis for "some time" and asked her if he could stay at the house. He said he was an undocumented immigrant heading to New York City, according to the complaint filed Friday.
Garcia said he was an undocumented immigrant planning to travel with Barrios to New York City.
Witnesses
Agents have detained five undocumented immigrants as material witnesses in the case. Four of them were in the van that rolled over and had been staying at the stash house prior to the accident.
One of the material witnesses identified Diaz as the person who ran from the van when Border Patrol stopped the van shortly before the accident.
The witness, Maria Del Rosales Morales Bedolla, told agents Diaz said to the others that he would guide them through the brush north of the Rio Grande Valley and to tell their relatives in Houston to prepare to pay their smuggling fees. For one of the immigrants, that was $4,000, the complaint states.
Diaz traveled to Mexico and escorted at least one of the immigrants as they made their way north to the border, the complaint states.
Further investigation led agents to Mexican national Jose Vega Zapata, 36, and U.S. citizen Luis Julian Vargas, 20, the complaint says.
Vega told agents he worked for the smuggling organization responsible for the deaths of the nine immigrants in Palmview on Tuesday, the complaint states. He told investigators he earned $1,000 per week for his duties, which included arranging food for the immigrants and scouting potential stash houses "among other things."
Vargas told agents he had been asked to drive the van filled with immigrants to just south of the Sarita checkpoint along U.S. Highway 77, but declined, the complaint states. He said he’d been offered $40 per person.
Young driver
Instead, the driving duties went to a 15-year-old boy, who was arrested by Palmview police on Thursday. He is too young to be charged in federal court.
Palmview Police Chief Chris Barrera said officers tracked the boy to his home near the intersection of 8 Mile Line and Abram Road about 8 p.m. Thursday.
Investigators will meet with the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office on Monday to determine whether the boy will be charged as an adult.
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