A Laredo man, aged 34, has confessed to participating in a multi-year conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Danny Nunez has been identified as the operator and coordinator of a smuggling organization based in Laredo since March 2023. The investigation linked him to various smuggling incidents, including one on December 2, 2023, where over 100 aliens were involved. On that day, law enforcement observed individuals being loaded into a white trailer at a warehouse parking lot. A search revealed 101 aliens inside the trailer, with 12 being unaccompanied children. Many reported difficulty breathing and fearing for their lives due to the conditions.
Another individual involved in the conspiracy, Juan Manuel Aguirre, aged 49 from Laredo, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to alien smuggling within the United States.
During Nunez's arrest, authorities searched his residence and seized cell phones and ledgers documenting the smuggled individuals throughout the conspiracy period. They also discovered over $36,000 in proceeds and two illegal aliens on site.
"The road to a secure border runs through the Southern District of Texas," stated Ganjei. "Human smuggling is a terrible practice, one that the Department is focused on eradicating. My advice to those in the human smuggling business is to find a new line of work."
Nunez and Aguirre face potential sentences of up to ten years in prison for their roles in this conspiracy and could be fined up to $250,000 each. They will remain detained until sentencing.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations alongside other agencies such as FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety with support from Customs and Border Protection among others. The OCDETF aims at identifying and dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening U.S security through a collaborative approach.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Scott Bowling is handling prosecution duties for this case.