A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrested a male who was seen carrying a child across the Rio Grande in what DPS is calling a child smuggling incident.
Texas DPS spokesperson Chris Olivarez shared a photo from a border surveillance camera last week that showed an adult male carrying a child across the Rio Grande into the U.S.
After seeing the event unfold, troopers initiated a traffic stop in Del Rio on the truck allegedly holding the child. During the stop, troopers discovered a 5-year-old female from Mexico matching the description in the image. She had been carried over by a smuggling guide from Mexico.
The child’s mother, identified as Dolores Lopez, was also in the truck. She is a temporary resident staying in North Carolina.
Lopez told troopers she found a smuggling organization on the internet, and they agreed to smuggle her daughter into the U.S. for a price of $8,000.
Troopers arrested the smuggler, identified as permanent resident Roman Ibarra Rojo from Mexico. He was charged with smuggling of persons younger than 18 years of age. He has a previous smuggling arrest from 2022.
Rojo later confessed that he was going to be paid $1,000 to smuggle the little girl.
Lopez and her daughter were referred to the U.S. Border Patrol, and DPS is investigating possible charges against the mother for endangering a child.
Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith, who has been at the forefront of the crisis as a border county official, told Texas Scorecard that the mother should be charged with child endangerment.
“The mother should face severe charges for directly endangering her child’s life and well-being,” said Smith. “By paying a smuggling organization to transport her five-year-old, she knowingly exposed the child to unsafe conditions, potential exploitation, and even fatal risks. Such reckless behavior violates her legal and moral duty to protect her child.”
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