DEL RIO, Texas — A Mexican citizen was sentenced in federal court to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $52,000 in restitution for her role as a stash house operator and facilitator following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector.
Dulce Maria Almaguer-Morquecho, 43, from, Mexico was sentenced Sept. 11 by a federal judge to 144 months in federal prison. Almaguer-Morquecho pleaded guilty July 5, 2022. She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens, causing serious bodily injury or placing lives in jeopardy on Jan. 9, 2023.
“HSI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of dismantling transnational criminal organizations seeking to profit from this type of enterprise with zero regard for human life,” said HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig S. Larrabee. “HSI will continue to exhaust every resource available to bring perpetrators to justice.”
According to court documents, Almaguer-Morquecho was registered as the owner of multiple vehicles and a cellphone involved in human smuggling attempts between May 14, 2021 and Jan. 17, 2022. Almaguer-Morquecho was identified as someone who harbored undocumented noncitizens and recruited load drivers for human smuggling operations, offering to pay the drivers $1,000 for every migrant they transported.
Almaguer-Morquecho was arrested July 5, 2022.
Co-defendant Haley Yvonne Garrett was sentenced Aug. 15 to six years in prison for her role as a load driver for the organization. Garrett led a law enforcement on high-speed chase through Del Rio, crashing into a Sonic restaurant and ejecting several undocumented noncitizens from her vehicle. Several other co-defendants have received between three and five years in prison for their roles in the human smuggling conspiracy.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
HSI San Antonio continues to address the serious public safety threat posed by human smuggling organizations and their reckless disregard for the health and safety of the people they exploit. To report suspicious smuggling activity, you are urged to call 866-348-2423.