EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A couple was arrested in El Paso after authorities said they tried to smuggle two minors from Mexico, pretending they were their children and presenting fake papers.
According to the United States Department of Justice, on June 7, 39-year-old Abraham Romo-Rivera and 29-year-old Amairani Munoz-Molinar, identified as “Lawful Permanent Residents” of the U.S., but originally from Mexico, were arrested after they allegedly tried to enter the country through the Downtown El Paso border bridge with two Mexican minors, saying that they were their children and presenting IDs that Customs and Border Protection officers said didn’t match.
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The DOJ said in a press release that the couple was driving a vehicle with New Mexico license plates and that one of the minors, a girl, kept avoiding showing her face to CBP officers, a suspicious action that led to a second inspection.
After authorities noticed the IDs did not match, they allegedly confessed that the IDs did not belong to them and that the two minors were from Mexico.
Furthermore, after CBP officers investigated the vehicle, they learned that Romo-Rivera was allegedly going to be paid $10,000 to smuggle the two minors into the country and when officers pat-down Munoz -Molinar, they allegedly found an envelope that have the real papers for the children, showing that the are indeed Mexican citizens.
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DOJ stated that both Romo-Rivera and Munoz-Molinar were charged with one count of “bringing in and harboring aliens.”
According to the DOJ, if convicted, both suspects could spend 10 years in prison.
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