Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers made a significant arrest near the border in Del Rio, Texas, on Friday. The arrest was related to the alleged smuggling of a 5-year-old girl into the US from Mexico.
According to Texas DPS, a trooper stopped a Dodge pickup truck in Del Rio after receiving information that a man had been captured by border surveillance carrying a child across the Rio Grande. The 5-year-old girl was then loaded into another smuggler’s vehicle and driven to a hotel.
Troopers maintained surveillance on the pickup truck until they eventually conducted a traffic stop. During the stop, it was revealed that the 5-year-old girl was from Mexico and had just been smuggled into the US. The trooper was able to match the image of the girl in surveillance footage to the girl in the pickup truck.
The trooper, who communicated with the girl in Spanish, pointed out a distinctive bow that the girl was wearing, which was also seen in the recorded footage. The girl’s mother, Dolores Lopez, was present in the truck at the time of the traffic stop. Lopez, a temporary resident of North Carolina originally from Mexico, confessed to authorities that she had located a smuggling organization online and agreed to have her daughter smuggled into the US for $8,000.
The smuggler, identified as Roman Ibarra Rojo from Mexico, was arrested and charged with smuggling a person under the age of 18. Rojo admitted that he was supposed to receive $1,000 for smuggling the 5-year-old girl into the US. It was revealed that Rojo had been previously arrested in 2022 for smuggling.
Lopez and her daughter were referred to the US Border Patrol, with a recommendation to charge the mother with endangering her child. The decision to prosecute Lopez will be left to the district attorney.
This incident highlights the ongoing challenges and dangers associated with illegal border crossings and human smuggling operations. It serves as a reminder of the importance of law enforcement efforts to combat such criminal activities and protect vulnerable individuals, especially children, from exploitation and harm.
