EL PASO, Texas (KWTX) — An El Paso man got 33 months in federal prison in January for helping smuggle people through a border tunnel built by cartels.
Oscar Ivan Carrillo, 20, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to conspiracy to use a border tunnel, according to the Department of Justice.
Border Patrol and ICE agents found a man-made tunnel connecting Juarez, Mexico and El Paso on Jan. 10, 2025. Carrillo and others used hand tools to dig new tunnels that connected existing storm drains to the main tunnel, prosecutors said.
ICE said agents started looking into the operation in 2024 after getting tips about a high-tech tunnel built by La Nueva Empresa, an international drug cartel. The tunnel went from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, running underneath the Rio Grande and had its own electricity and air system, according to ICE.
The group would walk people through the tunnels into the U.S. At the exit, they parked a box truck with a trap door over a manhole cover. They’d open the trap door so people could climb out of the tunnel and into the truck without anyone seeing them.
El Paso man sentenced to 33 months for border tunnel smuggling conspiracy(U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Carrillo was charged with four counts in April 2025 and arrested in June. He pleaded guilty to one count in November.
“Mexican drug cartels and the alien smuggling organizations with which they partner care nothing about the hopes and dreams of those they illegally smuggle into the United States,” U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said. “They care only about the money each of the illegal aliens pay to be smuggled.”
Simmons said cartels often hold people in stash houses after smuggling them, demanding more money from families before letting them go.
“This case highlights the relentless efforts of our special agents and U.S. Border Patrol partners to disrupt dangerous smuggling operations,” said Taekuk Cho, ICE HSI El Paso acting Special Agent in Charge.
El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jesse D. Munoz said the case shows “the unwavering commitment and teamwork of our U.S. Border Patrol agents and partners to dismantle dangerous smuggling operations.”
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department program targeting illegal immigration and criminal organizations.
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