LAS CRUCES – On May 29, a New Mexico State Police officer was patrolling north of Las Cruces, NM, on Interstate 25, near milepost 17. The officer saw a Buick Enclave and the passengers in the back seat were not wearing their seatbelts. The officer initiated a traffic stop, and the driver, Saul Rojas Villa, age 40, pulled over for the officer.
During the traffic stop, the officer discovered eleven undocumented immigrants in the vehicle and an 11 and 5-year-old female in the cargo area. Antonio Guerra Garcia, 23, claimed to be the uncle of the two children, but after further investigation, it was learned he had no relation to the children.
Officers eventually learned that the mother of the minors had paid the men to transport the minors across the border, and then have them turn themselves into Border Patrol agents in El Paso once across. The two men did not allow the children to turn themselves in and continued driving north past the border.
The undocumented immigrants, including the two children, were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol agents and transported to El Paso. The children will be reunited with their mother, who lives in Mississippi, once proof of guardianship is provided.
The Dona Ana District Attorney was contacted and approved charging both men with Kidnapping and Child Abuse. They were both booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center.