Manuel Valenzuela Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Drugged Children

Manuel Valenzuela, a 35-year-old El Paso resident and lawful permanent U.S. resident, pleaded guilty on November 6, 2025 to federal charges for his role in a child smuggling ring that sedated children with THC-laced gummy candies to keep them quiet as drivers brought them from Juárez, Mexico, through ports of entry into El Paso. He faces a mandatory minimum of 11 years in federal prison.¹

What Valenzuela Pleaded Guilty To

Valenzuela appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Enriquez at the Albert Armendariz Sr. U.S. Courthouse in El Paso and pleaded guilty to four of the five counts against him: one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and three counts of aiding and abetting the smuggling of aliens for profit. Sentencing was assigned to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone and scheduled for January 29, 2026.²

His Role in the Ring

Valenzuela did not drive children through the ports of entry. His job was to pick them up on the U.S. side after they crossed and to pay the drivers who brought them.¹ According to prosecutors, members of the organization referred to the children as “products,” and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens described the children as “currency” used to generate profit.³

How the Operation Worked

The ring operated between approximately May 1 and October 17, 2024. Drivers recruited by the organization moved unaccompanied children by car from Juárez to legal ports of entry, then presented fraudulent U.S. documents to border officers, claiming the papers belonged to the children and that the drivers were the children’s parents. Official filings put the children’s ages between 5 and 13; the El Paso Times, citing the federal complaint affidavit, reported that some were as young as two.⁴²

To keep the children quiet during transit, smugglers fed them gummy candies laced with THC. On October 17, 2024, at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry, officers intercepted four children ages 2, 5, 9, and 12. Two of them had eaten the gummies and were hospitalized with marijuana poisoning.⁵ Drivers were paid roughly $900 for each child successfully brought across.⁴

At the time of the initial charges, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti said the defendants “allegedly risked the lives of children by using drug-laced candy to keep them quiet while being smuggled into the United States,” calling the tactic “especially dangerous and cruel.” U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas said the case showed that smuggling organizations “care nothing for the well-being of the people they move into the United States.”⁵

The Other Three Defendants

The criminal complaint was filed on August 29, 2025, and a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment on September 24, 2025 against Valenzuela and three co-defendants.⁴¹ All four were charged with conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens to the United States for financial gain.

Dianne Guadian, 32, a U.S. citizen, is accused of picking up children in El Paso and paying drivers, the same role attributed to Valenzuela. She was arrested with Valenzuela on August 30, 2025.
Susana Guadian, 50, a Mexican national, is alleged to have recruited drivers to move the children to the ports of entry.
Daniel Guadian, 50, a Mexican national, is also alleged to have recruited drivers.

The three co-defendants remain in federal custody in El Paso awaiting trial, and no plea or trial dates for them have been publicly announced.⁶ The DOJ’s initial filings did not confirm when or whether Susana and Daniel Guadian were taken into custody.⁴

How the 11-Year Minimum Is Built

Valenzuela was charged under 8 U.S.C. § 1324, the federal statute covering bringing in, transporting, and harboring undocumented immigrants. Smuggling aliens for financial gain carries a statutory maximum of 10 years per count. When an offense causes serious bodily injury or places a life in jeopardy, the maximum rises to 20 years, and the statute allows an additional 10 years when smuggling is part of an ongoing commercial enterprise that endangers lives. Mandatory minimums range from 3 years for a first profit-motivated violation to 5 years for a subsequent offense. The DOJ said Valenzuela’s combined guilty pleas on four counts carry a mandatory minimum of 11 years, which reflects the accumulation of mandatory minimums across the counts.¹

Who Investigated and Prosecuted the Case

The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso and the U.S. Border Patrol, with support from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., the CBP National Targeting Center, and the FBI.⁴ The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Hines of the Western District of Texas and Trial Attorney Bethany Allen of the DOJ Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.¹

1
U.S. Department of Justice. El Paso Resident Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Drugged Children From Mexico
2
El Paso Times. El Paso Man Manuel Valenzuela Pleads Guilty in Child Smuggling Drugging Scheme
3
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE El Paso Investigation Results in 2 Mexican Nationals, 2 U.S. Citizens Charged
4
U.S. Department of Justice. Four Charged With Conspiracy to Smuggle Children From Mexico
5
El Paso Times. Smugglers Charged After Sedating Migrant Children With THC Marijuana Gummies
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San Antonio Express-News. Manuel Valenzuela THC Smuggling Children