MEXICAN NATIONAL PLEADS GUILTY IN UNDERGROUND BORDER TUNNEL SMUGGLING CONSPIRACY

EL PASO, TEXAS — A 29-year-old Mexican national has pleaded guilty to a federal alien-smuggling conspiracy involving an underground tunnel running between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez pleaded guilty on September 4 to one count of conspiracy to bring aliens into the United States. Federal prosecutors said Davalos-Lopez conspired with others to move migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border through a concealed underground passage used to bypass lawful inspection.

The case stems from a federal investigation that uncovered what authorities described as a sophisticated tunnel between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso in January 2025. Investigators later obtained intercepted telephone conversations involving Davalos-Lopez and other individuals discussing the movement of migrants through the tunnel.

According to the Justice Department, those conversations included discussions about charging migrants as much as $30,000 to use the tunnel to enter the United States unlawfully and without inspection. Davalos-Lopez was recorded discussing the tunnel directly, including how many migrants were crossing through it and the amount being charged for access.

The broader federal case involved human smuggling, firearms trafficking, drug activity, and support connected to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG, which federal authorities have designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the tunnel operation demonstrated the lengths smugglers were willing to use to move people illegally across the border for profit. Federal prosecutors characterized the case as part of a wider effort to dismantle organized smuggling networks operating across the United States and Mexico.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas said the defendants were connected to a criminal enterprise accused of moving drugs and migrants into the United States while trafficking firearms into Mexico. Prosecutors said those weapons were intended to support criminal activity associated with cross-border smuggling operations.

Acting Special Agent in Charge Coult W. Markovsky of the FBI El Paso Field Office said Davalos-Lopez and his co-conspirators used a secret tunnel that authorities said had been constructed by CJNG to facilitate the movement of humans, drugs, and firearms.

ATF Director Rob Cekada said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives remained focused on criminal networks involved in human trafficking and illegal firearms movement.

Special Agent in Charge Robert “Eric” Castañeda of the DEA’s El Paso Division said the guilty plea reflected a coordinated federal effort to dismantle organizations using concealed smuggling methods and illicit financial networks.

HSI Acting Executive Associate Director John A. Condon said federal investigators were targeting individuals who exploit vulnerable people for profit while facilitating the movement of weapons, drugs, or other resources to criminal organizations.

Davalos-Lopez and his co-defendants were indicted in April 2025. The Government of Mexico later transferred Davalos-Lopez to the United States pursuant to Mexico’s National Security Law.

His guilty plea resolves one count of conspiracy to bring aliens into the United States. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Davalos-Lopez faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison. His final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other applicable statutory factors.

Two co-defendants have also entered guilty pleas in related proceedings.

Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 40, of Mexico, pleaded guilty on August 27 to conspiring with others to provide material support to CJNG by trafficking firearms from the United States into Mexico for delivery to members of the organization.

Gustavo Castro-Medina, 29, of Mexico, also previously pleaded guilty to serving as an intermediary in the transfer of $3,000 by wire to an undercover federal agent for the purchase of firearms intended for subsequent unlawful transport.

The investigation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol.

ATF legal attachés in Mexico City and Mexico’s Fiscalía General de la República Organized Crime Unit, FGR-FEMDO, also provided assistance. HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force participated in the investigation. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also assisted.

Trial Attorney Marie Zisa of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory McDonald for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

The investigation and superseding indictment were supported through Joint Task Force Alpha, the Justice Department initiative focused on high-impact human smuggling and trafficking operations carried out by cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

Joint Task Force Alpha combines Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security resources to investigate human smuggling, trafficking, immigration offenses, illicit financial activity, and related criminal conduct affecting public safety and border security.

According to the Justice Department, Joint Task Force Alpha has resulted in more than 482 domestic and international arrests, more than 433 U.S. convictions, and more than 369 significant jail sentences, along with the forfeiture of substantial assets.

The federal case also falls within the broader Homeland Security Task Force initiative, which coordinates multiple U.S. law-enforcement agencies against cartels, transnational criminal organizations, foreign gangs, and human-smuggling and trafficking networks operating domestically and internationally.

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