EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas added nearly 300 new immigration cases, including three cases that happened in El Paso.

According to the attorney’s office, Yovani Garcia-Cruz, a U.S. citizen, has been federally charged with alien smuggling after allegedly serving as a pick-up driver in a smuggling operation, resulting in the discovery of 14 immigrants in a stash house earlier this year.

A criminal complaint alleged that Garcia-Cruz sent “proof of life” videos of migrants to another individual and had smuggled migrants into the U.S. on at least three occasions.

Garcia-Cruz was previously convicted at the state level and sentenced to five years in prison for smuggling of persons in 2024.

Erik Rangel-Martinez, a migrant from Mexico, was charged with alien smuggling after allegedly attempting to escape back into Mexico with 11 other migrants near the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry, according to the attorney’s office.

In a criminal complaint, Rangel-Martinez was expected to be paid $100 to hep smuggle migrants into the U.S. using a ladder at the international border fence.

The third case added involved a criminal complaint, alleging that Jaime Rodriguez-Corral presented himself to be a U.S. citizen to Customs and Border Protection officers on Monday, May 11, in the pedestrian lane at the Bridge of the Americas POE.

Rodriguez-Corral allegedly said he was on his way home to Nebraska and presented a Mexican driver’s license and a U.S. Consulate request sheet.

The attorney’s office said that the CBP officer noticed the documents lacked a proof of citizenship, and received an alert when he processed them in the system.

Further investigation revealed that Rodriguez-Corral is a Mexican citizen who was previously removed from the U.S. in May 2020. His criminal record showed convictions for possession of a fraudulent identification card and multiple assaults.

These three cases were among the 281 newly filed immigration and immigration-related criminal cases by the Western District of Texas, from May 8 to May 14.

“Charges were brought against human smugglers, alleged visa fraudsters, and illegal aliens with past convictions for numerous DWIs, violent crimes, drug trafficking and multiple prior removals,” the attorney’s office in a news release.

Various federal, state, and local agencies, including ICE, Border Patrol, the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and AFT, aided in bringing these cases.

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