3 Army Soldiers Arrested On Human Smuggling Conspiracy Charges

Three Army soldiers based at Fort Cavazos, Texas, have been charged in a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants after they were caught driving noncitizens from Mexico and Guatemala at the southern border, according to the Department of Justice.

Emilio Mendoza Lopez, Angel Palma and Enrique Jauregui have been charged with one count of bringing in and harboring aliens, with Palma and Jauregui also facing a charge of assaulting a federal agent, the U.S. attorney's office announced Wednesday.

The three men were caught as Mendoza Lopez and Palma allegedly were driving with one Mexican national and two Guatemalan nationals in their vehicle on Nov. 27. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent stopped them in Presidio, a town that sits on the U.S.-Mexico border.

As the agent approached the vehicle, the men fled and struck a CBP vehicle, injuring an agent inside, according to the filed criminal complaint. 

Authorities eventually stopped the vehicle and apprehended four individuals — Mendoza Lopez and the three undocumented noncitizens. The driver, alleged to be Palma, “fled on foot and was located the following day at a hotel in Odessa,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

The DOJ accuses Mendoza Lopez and Palma of traveling nearly 500 miles from Fort Cavazos to Presidio “for the purpose of picking up and transporting undocumented noncitizens.” 

The third individual, Jauregui, is allegedly the recruiter and facilitator of the human smuggling conspiracy, with prosecutors pointing to messages found on Palma’s phone revealing conversations between the three soldiers to collaborate on the smuggling operation.

Palma and Jauregui were both arrested Tuesday at Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. 

A spokesperson for III Armored Corps, based at the Texas military installation, told The Hill officials "are aware of the arrest of three Fort Cavazos Soldiers," and will "continue to cooperate with all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies."

The spokesperson also confirmed that all three soldiers are assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, with Palma, of McFarland, Calif., serving as an infantryman; Jauregui, from Tacoma, Wash., serving as a Stryker systems maintainer; and Mendoza Lopez, of Bensenville, Ill., working as a wheeled vehicle mechanic.

The third-largest U.S. military base, Fort Cavazos covers 340 square miles and has nearly 60,000 direct employees, more than 38,600 of which are active-duty military personnel, according to the Texas comptroller.

The military installation has had a troubled history of high homicide, suicide and sexual assault among its troops, most notably the case of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen. Guillen was murdered in April 2020, with her suspected killer, service member Spc. Aaron Robinson, shooting and killing himself when pursued by police. 

Her death launched a sweeping probe into sexual assault and violence at the base. The investigations led to 14 leaders being relieved or suspended from their positions and several policy changes.

Updated at 1:59 p.m. EST