Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers arrested a man near the border in Del Rio, Texas, on Friday for his alleged involvement in smuggling a 5-year-old girl from Mexico into the U.S.
Texas DPS said an agent stopped a Dodge pickup in Del Rio after receiving information that a man had been apprehended by Border Patrol while transporting a child across the Rio Grande.
Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for Texas DPS, told Fox News that the 5-year-old girl carried across the border was loaded into another smuggler’s vehicle and driven to a hotel.
Troopers monitored the pickup until they finally pulled the truck over and conducted a traffic stop.
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According to Texas DPS, a 5-year-old girl was carried across the U.S.-Mexico border near Texas before being loaded into a truck and driven away by another smuggler. (Texas DPS)
During the stop, troopers learned that the 5-year-old girl was from Mexico and had just been there smuggled into the US The Trooper also matched the image of the girl on the surveillance footage to the girl in the pickup.
While asking the girl questions in Spanish, he pointed out the boy’s bow, which was also visible in the recorded footage.
The girl’s mother, Dolores Lopez, was also in the truck at the time of the traffic stop.
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Roman Ibarra Rojo of Mexico was arrested for his alleged involvement in smuggling a 5-year-old child across the border. (Texas DPS)
Texas DPS said the mother is a temporary resident of North Carolina and is originally from Mexico.
Lopez told troopers she found a smuggling ring on the Internet and agreed to have her daughter smuggled into the U.S. for $8,000.
A five-year-old girl was smuggled into the US from Mexico after her mother reportedly paid $8,000 to a group she found online. (Texas DPS)
Troopers eventually arrested the smuggler, who was identified as Roman Ibarra Rojo of Mexico. Rojo was charged with trafficking a person under 18 years old.
Texas DPS said Rojo admitted he would get $1,000 to smuggle the 5-year-old girl into the U.S.
Olivarez said Rojo had previously been arrested 2022 for smuggling.
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Lopez and her daughter were referred to the U.S. Border Patrol with a recommendation to charge the mother with child endangerment. It is up to the public prosecutor to decide whether the mother will be prosecuted.
