Four charged with smuggling children sedated with THC

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(The Center Square) – The Department of Justice charged four people in the Western District of Texas in what the DOJ says was a conspiracy to transport illegal foreign nationals into the U.S. for financial gain. In this case in El Paso, the four are accused of child smuggling using THC-laced gummies to sedate the children, according to the charges.

“These defendants allegedly risked the lives of children by using drug-laced candy to keep them quiet while being smuggled into the United States,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the DOJ’s Criminal Division said. “Targeting children in this way is especially dangerous and cruel. The Criminal Division is dedicated to safeguarding vulnerable populations and dismantling the for-profit smuggling networks that exploit them.”

Two defendants are Mexican nationals, Susana and Daniel Guadian; one is a U.S. citizen, Dianne Guadian; and one is a lawful permanent resident living in El Paso, Manuel Valenzuela. Dianne Guadian and Manuel Valenzuela were arrested in El Paso on Aug. 30, the DOJ says.

According to the complaint, from roughly May 1 through Oct. 17, 2024, the defendants were involved in an “alien smuggling organization” to arrange transport of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) between the ages of five and 13 illegally into the U.S. The Guadians were responsible for recruiting drivers to transport the children by car and smuggle them into the U.S. from Juarez, Mexico, through one of the ports of entry in El Paso, the charges allege. The drivers and their coconspirator presented U.S. documents to U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection officers, falsely claiming the documents belonged to the children, according to the charges. They also claimed they were the children’s parents, according to the charges.

Sedating children to smuggle them into Texas isn’t new, neither is presenting documents and claiming to be the children’s parents or relatives. In July, child smugglers were sentenced in a scheme involving knocking children out with gummies laced with high doses of melatonin, The Center Square reported.

In the El Paso THC case, during at least one smuggling event, the UACs were given gummies containing marijuana (THC) to sedate them, authorities said. One was so heavily doped it necessitated a trip to the hospital where the child was diagnosed with marijuana poisoning, the DOJ said. Once inside the U.S., the UACs were smuggled to El Paso, where Dianne Guadian and Manuel Valenzuela picked them up and paid the drivers $900 per child, according to the charges.

“When these cartels and the Alien Smuggling Organizations with which they partner see children, they see dollar signs,” U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas said. “This case shows that cartels and alien smuggling organizations care nothing for the wellbeing of the people they move into the United States. They only care about enriching themselves. In the Western District, we will muster all our resources to remove from society those who would profit off of the hopeless and helpless.”

The greatest number of UACs illegally smuggled into the U.S. were in Texas, The Center Square first reported. El Paso has been a major human smuggling hub for years, where illegal foreign nationals are brought across the border, held in stash houses and trafficked statewide and nationwide, The Center Square reported. During the Biden administration, the FBI warned that El Paso was a major human smuggling and kidnapping destination due to its proximity to cartel operations in Juarez, Mexico.

The investigation and indictment were supported by Joint Task Force Alpha, a multi-federal agency conglomerate targeting cartel and transnational criminal smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia.

JTFA includes U.S. Attorneys, DOJ attorneys in multiple divisions, the FBI, DEA and others. Their efforts have resulted in “more than 410 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling; more than 355 U.S. convictions; more than 305 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets,” DOJ says.

The charges come after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a ban on THC that had passed the state legislature.

Although a bill filed by state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, passed the Senate three times, during the regular, first and second special sessions, it went nowhere in the second special session that just ended. The state legislature passed a THC ban during the regular legislative session, but Abbott vetoed it. Every law enforcement agency in Texas supported the ban. Abbott wanting to regulate THC is an attempt to legalize marijuana, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick maintains, which law enforcement and the majority of polled Texans oppose.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant, is considered a Schedule 1 controlled substance by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. It’s found in a range of products marketed to children, including food, gummies, candy and other products with no warning labels, sold statewide, nationwide and abroad.