A couple has been extradited from Mexico to stand trial on charges of smuggling unaccompanied illegal alien children into the U.S. during the Biden administration.
A federal grand jury indicted Susana and Daniel Guadian in 2025 on charges of conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens illegally into the U.S. for financial gain.
According to court documents, the couple was part of a criminal organization that illegally smuggled unaccompanied alien children ages 5 to 13.
The couple allegedly worked with Dianne Guadian and Manuel Valenzuela, who had pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges.
Susana and Daniel Guadian reportedly recruited drivers to transport unaccompanied alien minors from Juarez, Mexico, to the U.S. border. The drivers then allegedly presented U.S. documents not belonging to the minors and claimed to be their parents.
Court documents report that once across the border, other conspirators would pick up the children. The conspirators allegedly paid the drivers $900 per minor.
During one incident, two smugglers were reportedly transporting four children ages 2, 5, 9, and 12. Only one child belonged to an accomplice.
The accomplices reportedly presented U.S. documents belonging to their own children rather than the three illegal alien minors.
Agents found that Susana Guadian had given the three minors THC-laced gummies for sedation during smuggling.
Two of the three went to the hospital with marijuana poisoning.
“These defendants are charged with smuggling multiple children across the southern border. The allegations include that they risked the safety of children by giving them THC-laced gummies to sedate them while smuggling them from Mexico into the United States to avoid the children answering questions from border law enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Protecting kids from smugglers, who will stop at nothing to exploit them, will always be one of the Department’s highest priorities,” Duva continued.
The Guadians were extradited from Mexico and arraigned in the Western District of Texas. They face charges of conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens illegally to the U.S. for financial gain.
“Having Susana and Daniel Guadian in custody on this side of the border one year after they were indicted is a major development in a case that highlights the dangerous tactics that human smugglers employ when smuggling children,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “Like their co-defendants before them, these two will be aggressively prosecuted in federal court and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Manuel Valenzuela received five years in prison for his role in the scheme, and Dianne Guadian pleaded guilty to four counts of aiding and abetting bringing of aliens without authorization for profit.
The illegal smuggling operation occurred from May 2024 to October 2024 during the Biden Administration.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, “roughly 540,000 unaccompanied minors were apprehended after crossing illegally during the Biden administration. About 448,000 were released to sponsors. According to one Department of Homeland Security investigation, 233,000 were subsequently unaccounted for, with the government uncertain of their whereabouts.”
