Paintballs fired, suspected migrant smuggler 'boss' arrested at West El Paso home

An El Paso man arrested by a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Special Response Team at his home near Franklin High School is accused of being a mid-level manager for a human smuggling ring.

An HSI agent revealed new details on the arrest of Mark Anthony Holguin, 26, during testimony at a detention hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 6, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Castañeda at the federal courthouse in Downtown El Paso.

Holguin was arrested last week on a federal charge of conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants. He remains incarcerated at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.

"He is not part of any criminal organization. He is a family man, who fixes car and (works) to support his family," his attorney, Joshua Spencer, said at the hearing.

An HSI investigation alleges Holguin oversaw drivers hired by a smuggling organization to transport undocumented migrants after they illegally crossed the U.S. border in the El Paso area.

Holguin was "basically their boss," who arranged pick-up points and locations for migrant smuggling, was in charge of the money and coordinating payments to drivers and had the contacts in Mexico, the HSI agent said.

The current case goes back to earlier this year with information extracted from cellphone text messages going back to late March, early April after the arrests of unnamed co-conspirators in August, the agent said.

"There is no reliability of third-party witnesses, co-conspirators," Spencer countered at the hearing, at one point asking what others could gain in "exchange for pointing the finger to Mr. Holguin." The HSI agent was not aware of any specific agreement.

The arrest occurred as El Paso deals with a plague of vehicle pursuits of migrant smuggler drivers who refuse to stop for law enforcement in dangerous high-speed chases on streets and highways. The chases often involve the Texas Department of Public Safety as part of the Operation Lone Star border security initiative.

Paintballs fired during HSI arrest on Resler Drive near Franklin High School

The HSI agent testified that Holguin has a history of running from law enforcement, including allegedly being the driver filmed fleeing from Texas DPS over the Labor Day weekend in a video on a social media site.

Due to the possibility of Holguin being armed and his history of fleeing, the HSI Special Response Team (which is a SWAT unit) was sent to arrest him as part of the smuggling investigation including the U.S. Border Patrol and Texas DPS.

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On the morning of Nov. 30, agents covered the front and the back of a house at the end of a small cul-de-sac in the 800 block of Resler Drive, about a block south of Franklin High School. Holguin has resided at the rental home with his girlfriend and two children for several months.

HSI agents pulled up to the front of the house and announced for Holguin to exit, hoping that he would come out with his hands up for the children's safety, the HSI agent said. Instead, Holguin dashed out the back door with a child and agents fired "paintballs" in his direction, toward his feet, forcefully encouraging him to stop.

During a search of the home, agents found a large amount of marijuana, 12 kilos, laid out on a trampoline outside and also discovered cocaine residue and a firearm under a stairway, the agent said.

'Thousands' of migrants smuggled? What!

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Reiter Holderfield said that Holguin was suspected of being responsible for smuggling "thousands" of migrants, prompting Holguin to react with a facial expression of disbelief, his mouth open as if saying, "What!"

The estimate is based on the number of migrants caught (10 or 12 arrested in one case allegedly linked to Holguin) multiplied by the nights investigators suspect Holguin was running drivers, the prosecution said. Spencer challenged the prosecution's claim as an outrageously far reach done with fuzzy math.

At another point, Holguin made the sign of the cross as he sat at the defense table when the HSI agent claimed that he had confessed. But when questioned by Spencer, the agent didn't know exactly what Holguin had admitted to because Holguin was interviewed by another agent in Spanish and the agent had not read a translated transcript.

Spencer argued for his client to be granted bond, allowing him to be free while awaiting trial, saying HSI had targeted Holguin for some time and that his client was not a flight risk, always handed over cellphones when asked and attended court when required.

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Holguin is a U.S. citizen who has not been to Mexico in three years and had previous cases dismissed, Spencer said, adding his client "knows right from wrong" and is alive "but for the grace of God .... he was stabbed 14 times, met his maker and came back."

The federal prosecutor pointed out Holguin has an 11-page criminal history going back to the age of 16 and allegedly has a cocaine addiction, is unemployed and supported by his girlfriend. At the hearing's end, Magistrate Judge Castañeda granted the government's motion to keep Holguin jailed without bond.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Migrant smuggler 'boss' suspect arrested at West El Paso home