Man arrested on human smuggling charges in Electra
Wichita County deputies arrested a man for human smuggling in Electra Tuesday during a traffic stop.
According to a media release:
The deputy stopped a Toyota SUV for a traffic violation stop on U.S 287 in Electra. The driver, William Rene Carlos-Baran was arrested and transported to jail on Human Smuggling charges. Seven Guatemalan immigrants were detained and picked up by the U.S Border Patrol.
According to allegation made in the probable cause affidavit:
All occupants (eight total) appeared to be nervous. The deputy noted similarities to their previous experiences working with suspected human smuggling in Wichita County.
Carlos-Baron told the deputy they were driving to Houston from Las Vegas. He told the deputy he did not know any of his passengers’ names and only knew them through roofing jobs. He said he met an unknown person at a casino in Nevada who directed him to take the occupants of the Toyota to a gas station in Houston where he would get paid $100 per person transported.
The passengers told the deputy they were going on vacation in Wichita Falls but did not know where they were staying. They said they were going to stay for a week and head back to Nevada. One of the passengers said the group would pitch in $30 each for expenses.
According to the Wichita County Jail inmate data webpage, Carlos-Baron was charged with Smuggling of Persons. His bond was set at $50,000 by a judge. He was also put on an ICE Detainer and was being held without bond.
This is the fourth smuggling arrest in Wichita County this month. According to previous Times Record News reports,
On Friday July 1, DPS conducted a traffic stop on U.S 287. The driver, Emerzon Francisco Manzano, was arrested and charged with human smuggling. Manzano was taken to the hospital for medical problems where he admitted smuggling people to help his mother. Five people were booked into the jail on ICE detainers.
On Sunday July 3, DPS troopers arrested Samuel Cazun Cruz. He was charged with human smuggling. Cruz admitted he was getting paid $150 per person and said told the trooper it wasn’t enough. Four people were placed on Federal Detainers and a juvenile was released to a family member.
On Monday July 4, DPS arrested Brandon Ismael Hernandez-Jimenez. He told the trooper the passengers in the car were his friends and they had all been partying at his house in Colorado. He said he was driving them back to Dallas. He later admitted he did not know the names of his passengers and said they were all from Mexico. He said he is from Mexico and they entered the U.S. illegally. He also said his passengers gave him $300 for gas money.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Man arrested in Wichita County on human-smuggling suspicion
