Accident – Death – Obituary News :
Two alleged ‘foot guides’ face charges in connection with migrant death near La Union, NM
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – In a tragic incident near the La Union, New Mexico, railroad crossing, two suspected smugglers are facing felony charges in connection with the death of a woman they allegedly abandoned in the desert before she was struck and killed by a train.
The area near the La Union railroad crossing is a known pass-through area for unauthorized non-citizens who manage to evade capture in the desert north of the U.S. Border Patrol Santa Teresa Station.
Documents filed in federal court show that a train conductor alerted New Mexico State Police to the fatality. The officers then notified the Border Patrol evidence collection team and the Doña Ana County Medical Examiner’s Office for further investigation.
Suspected Smugglers Apprehended
Border agents conducted a search of the area and apprehended 11 unauthorized migrants they believed may have been traveling with the woman. Four of the migrants pointed out two individuals they identified as “foot guides,” a term used for smugglers who help unauthorized migrants evade arrest.
Homeland Security Investigations agents interviewed Marco Olvera Aguilar and Jose Soto Perez. Soto allegedly confessed to leading a group of 15 unauthorized migrants into the desert past Border Patrol agents and towards La Union.
Admission of Guilt
A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico alleges that Soto admitted that the woman was among a small group that “got left behind near the railroad tracks.” He also implicated Olvera as the one who communicated with a human smuggling organization based in Mexico during the journey to La Union.
Court records show that Olvera also admitted to his role as a “foot guide” for the human smuggling organization and confessed to using “light towers” to help guide the group in the desert. He acknowledged that some migrants, including the woman who later died, were left behind when they could not keep up.
Felony Charges
The complaint accuses Soto and Olvera of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death, a felony punishable by up to life in prison. Sentences for such crimes vary depending on the circumstances and the number of fatalities involved.
Last September, a Temple, Texas, man was sentenced to 136 months in prison for the death of two migrants during a rollover while trying to evade authorities. In 2021, a South Texas man was sentenced to 30 years in prison following a vehicle crash that killed five migrants and injured eight more.
Soto and Olvera made their initial appearance in U.S. federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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