Three men charged with human smuggling in El Paso operation

Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas have filed 237 new immigration-related criminal cases between October 31 and November 5. Among these cases, three individuals face human smuggling charges following a joint law enforcement operation in El Paso.

Authorities report that two U.S. citizens, Miguel Angel Debruhl and Alan Montelongo, along with a Mexican migrant, Abel Delval-Dominguez, were involved in transporting 53 migrants in a tractor-trailer. Investigators allege that Montelongo agreed to transport the group through the I-25 Border Patrol checkpoint in Las Cruces for a payment of approximately $16,000, to be split with Debruhl.

The operation included a traffic stop by the Horizon City Police Department on a semi-truck driven by Debruhl, where agents allegedly found a backpack containing numerous cell phones. Simultaneously, the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped a second semi-truck driven by Montelongo, discovering 53 migrants inside the trailer. Delval-Dominguez was arrested after surveillance at a suspected stash house allegedly showed him transporting migrants between the house and the truck yard.