McALLEN, Texas — Two active duty U.S. Army soldiers have pleaded guilty for their roles in a human smuggling organization.
The soldiers tried to smuggle at least two illegal aliens past a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint 80 miles north of the border.
On Tuesday, 19-year-old Marco Antonio Nava and 25-year-old Edmond Cleveland, both from El Paso, filed a guilty plea in federal court admitting their role in the smuggling attempt.
New information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that according to an investigation by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the two men were to be paid $1,500 for smuggling the two illegal aliens past the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas.
Falfurrias is approximately 80 miles north of the U.S. border with Mexico and is where U.S. Border Patrol agents have set up a checkpoint in an attempt to curb the flow of drug trafficking and human smuggling in the immediate area. Falfurrias and a similar checkpoint in Sarita are considered to be the last barriers for Mexican drug cartels looking to get their goods into major U.S. cities.
Earlier in November, Breitbart Texas reported on the arrest of Nava and Cleveland on human smuggling charges. Both are active duty soldiers at Fort Bliss in El Paso.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
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