U.S. soldiers caught smuggling immigrants

[Owlscrying]

June 11

EL PASO — A trio of National Guard soldiers assigned to help stop illegal immigration in South Texas instead ran an immigrant smuggling operation using cell phone text messages.

In a series of text messages uncovered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the three soldiers allegedly negotiated the details, price and number of people who would be smuggled north.

Pfc.Torres, 26, told federal investigators that it was his seventh immigrant smuggling trip. He implicated 36-year-old Sgt. Hodge, as the soldier who waved his van through the checkpoint.

Investigators say Hodge pointed to Sgt. Pacheco, 26, as the man who recruited and paid him. Hodge said he had been paid for helping smuggle a load of immigrants in May.

All three soldiers, who were arraigned today in Laredo on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants, are assigned to border duties as part of Operation Jumpstart, President Bush's initiative to place Guard troops at the border to help local and federal authorities with immigration enforcement. All the soldiers are volunteers.

Pacheco has been accused of recruiting soldiers to transport the migrants for $1,000 to $3,500 a trip. He and Hodge were arrested Friday.

The trio are not the first Operation Jumpstart troops in Texas to be accused of illegal activity. In September, three other soldiers were arrested on charges that they opened fire in a neighborhood near Eagle Pass. According to local police, the soldiers claimed that boredom was at the heart of a joyride with two cases of beer and a loaded 9 mm pistol.

Smugglers' have been successful at recruiting U.S. agents in the past. In California, at least nine border agents have been arrested or sentenced in the last 18 months on corruption charges. In Texas, at least 10 agents, including four Border Patrol agents, have been charged or sentenced in border corruption schemes.

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[libertyworld]

Torres, Pacheco? What are we doing hiring people with such last names to guard our southern border? Tell me that! Huh? Huh?

[__Kratos__]

Torres, Pacheco? What are we doing hiring people with such last names to guard our southern border? Tell me that! Huh? Huh?

First of all it was the national guard.

Secondly, for border patrol agents you need to be able to speak spanish to be hired because well statistics don't lie and spanish speaking people are the number one problem on the southern border. I'd place 10 bucks on the table to say there are more hispanics in this country able to speak spanish and english more then white, black, arab, indian, asian and whatever else is left.

[libertyworld]

First of all it was the national guard.

Secondly, for border patrol agents you need to be able to speak spanish to be hired because well statistics don't lie and spanish speaking people are the number one problem on the southern border. I'd place 10 bucks on the table to say there are more hispanics in this country able to speak spanish and english more then white, black, arab, indian, asian and whatever else is left.

Yeah, I know. I wasn't really serious.