Agents: Smugglers hire actors in bus plot

Federal officials put the brakes on a novel smuggling scheme in which people were allegedly paid to pose as bus passengers in a vehicle carrying undocumented immigrants.

Suspected smugglers recruited actors, paying them from $75 to $80 each, public records state. Seven defendants from Mexico and San Benito were charged with conspiring to transport three undocumented immigrants in a May 20 plot. The suspects are Jose Guadalupe Duarte-Gonzalez, Alberto Alejandro Gomez-Amador, Adelina Perez, Isael Garzoria, Karina Peña, Margarita Zamora and Angela Martinez.

A special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case after the agency received information that a bus would be used to transport immigrants or contraband from San Benito.

"The source stated people were being recruited and paid to ride in the bus to act as legitimate passengers and as cover for the smuggling scheme," states the affidavit the agent filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas.

Surveillance was established at Paseo Real and Business 77 in San Benito. A large white Dina passenger bus arrived and parked on the dirt behind a convenience store, the affidavit states. Several people exited two nearby vehicles, and about 10 people entered the bus, according to ICE agents. The bus left and headed toward Edinburg and didn't stop until arriving at the Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias.

Agents questioned the driver and nine passengers, whom were allegedly recruited. Agents also discovered two women and one man hidden in a compartment at the rear of the bus during their inspection. Two juveniles traveling with relatives and one adult were later released.

The affidavit further notes that the recruited passengers were to travel to a point north of the checkpoint and would be returned to the Rio Grande Valley later in the day. The agent noted that the bus driver never asked the passengers where they were going, but gave them a passenger ticket without charging them.

"The passengers knew that this was odd, (and) had an idea what was going on, but did not question it," the agent further stated.

The agent indicated that statements made by the undocumented immigrants showed that Gomez-Amador was a "big player" in the scheme, giving the passengers instructions and placing the immigrants in the compartment.

The affidavit identifies a woman as the recruiter of the passengers. Witnesses said they have seen her in at least one other occasion on the bus, and that she paid them for traveling on the bus, the affidavit states.

Because her name, although listed in the affidavit, does not coincide with any of the named defendants or the three material witnesses, The Brownsville Herald is not releasing it at this time.

The United States filed a complaint May 21 relative to an innovative smuggling scheme. The defendants and approximate ages are:

- Jose Guadalupe Duarte-Gonzalez, 41, Mexico, $25,000 cash bond.

- Alberto Alejandro Gomez-Amador, 39, Mexico, $25,000 cash bond.

- Adelina Perez, 27, San Benito, $10,000 unsecured cash bond.

- Isael Garzoria, 20, San Benito, $20,000 unsecured cash bond.

- Karina Peña, 22, San Benito, $20,000 unsecured cash bond.

- Margarita Zamora, 22, San Benito, no bond.

- Angela Martinez, 22, San Benito, $10,000 unsecured cash bond.

Source: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas