Man charged with smuggling migrants after California crash that killed 13 people
Federal prosecutors charged a man after he allegedly overloaded a car with migrants before it crashed in Southern California, killing 13 Mexican and Guatemalan nationals.
Jose Cruz Noguez, a legal U.S. resident from Mexico, is accused of coordinating a “smuggling event” on March 2, leading to a Ford Expedition overloaded with migrants being hit by a semi-truck about 15 miles north of the border in Imperial County, California. Cruz was arrested by authorities Monday night as he crossed over the border from Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Authorities allege that Cruz coordinated moving migrants illegally to “stash houses,” collected smuggling payments from family members or sponsors and recruited drivers and scouts for the presence of law enforcement. Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman vowed to find and prosecute smugglers in a statement following Cruz’s charges Tuesday.
“These smuggling networks seek maximum profit by moving as many people as possible across the border with zero regard for their safety and well-being,” Grossman said. “Cramming dozens of people into eight-passenger vehicles and driving recklessly to avoid detection shows an utter disregard for human life.”
An unidentified associate who previously worked with Cruz told federal authorities that Cruz paid him to transport and harbor migrants who were in the U.S. illegally and asked him to drive migrants illegally across the U.S.-Mexico border. The informant told authorities he refused, according to prosecutors.
The informant participated in a secretly recorded conversation on Friday where Cruz allegedly admitted his participation in overloading the Expedition with migrants. He also said that they planned to load two vehicles with a total of 60 migrants and the driver was going to make $28,000, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Border Patrol agents reviewed surveillance video from the morning of the crash, where they observed multiple vehicles and approximately 20 individuals gathered south of the border. A 10-foot hole was cut in the fence and two vehicles, including the Expedition, crossed over, prosecutors said.
Cruz allegedly admitted to cutting the hole in the fence in the secretly recorded conversation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Cruz was charged Tuesday with bringing in aliens without presentation for financial gain and conspiracy to bring aliens to the U.S. outside a port of entry causing serious bodily injury/placing a life in jeopardy.
A judge ruled Cruz must remain in custody and scheduled a detention hearing for April 5. A federal public defender for Cruz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
