US-Mexico border arrests: Mexican sentenced for child trafficking, US soldiers detained in Ciudad Juárez

Manuel Valenzuela, a 35‑year‑old Mexican citizen, was sentenced in a U.S. federal court to five years in prison for his role in a criminal network that smuggled children aged 5 to 13 from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to El Paso, Texas. The operation used falsified U.S. identity documents and sedated the minors with THC‑infused gummies, one of which required hospitalization for intoxication. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol and other federal agencies, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a separate incident, Mexican authorities detained two United States military personnel who entered Ciudad Juárez armed through an international crossing. The soldiers were taken to the Federal Attorney’s Office, questioned by officials from the state security secretariat, the Mexican army, the National Guard and the public prosecutor, and then released. They were escorted by U.S. consular staff onto an armored government vehicle and returned to the United States via the Lerdo Bridge.