El Paso Man Pleads Guilty in Child Smuggling Scheme Involving THC-Laced Candy

El Paso, TX. — Manuel Valenzuela, 35, a lawful permanent resident of El Paso, pleaded guilty in federal court to four charges tied to his role in a child smuggling operation that brought minors from Juarez, Mexico, into the United States.

According to court documents, members of the smuggling organization illegally transported unaccompanied children between the ages of five and 13. The smugglers sometimes used candy laced with THC to sedate the children during transport. Drivers and accomplices then presented false U.S. documents to border officers, claiming the children were their own before taking them into the country. One child was hospitalized and diagnosed with THC poisoning following a smuggling event.

Valenzuela’s role in the conspiracy included picking up the children after they crossed the border and paying the drivers involved. He was arrested on August 30 alongside co-defendant Dianne Guadian, a U.S. citizen. Two additional Mexican nationals, Susana Guadian and Daniel Guadian, were also charged in a five-count indictment filed on September 24.

On November 6, Valenzuela pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and three counts of aiding and abetting in the smuggling of aliens for profit. He faces a mandatory minimum of 11 years in federal prison. Sentencing will be determined by a U.S. District Court judge after review of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso and U.S. Border Patrol, with assistance from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Hines and Trial Attorney Bethany Allen of the DOJ Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section are prosecuting the case.

The investigation was supported by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), a Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security partnership targeting human smuggling networks across Mexico and Central America. JTFA has resulted in more than 410 arrests and 355 convictions to date.

This case falls under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide DOJ initiative aimed at dismantling transnational criminal organizations and combating human smuggling through the coordination of Project Safe Neighborhoods resources.