CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 39-year-old Mexican national pleaded guilty to conspiring to harbor 32 migrants in a stash house in Laredo, Texas, under dangerous conditions that resulted in one death.
Cruz Alberto de la Garza admitted he conspired with others to harbor migrants at the stash house and assisted in transporting them.
The investigation began Oct. 15, 2025, after 2 migrants were dropped off at an emergency room. One was pronounced dead upon arrival. A medical examiner's report identified one cause of death as environmental exposure with heat effects.
Later that day, law enforcement encountered a tractor-trailer at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Cotulla and discovered 30 migrants crammed into the trailer's sleeper compartment.
The investigation revealed all 32 had been housed in a white trailer on a ranch-style property used as a stash house. The trailer had extreme heat with little to no air conditioning, limited food and water, and inadequate ventilation. There was no access to a toilet, and migrants were forced to use a bucket. No one was permitted to leave.
De la Garza had instructed the migrants to get into the tractor-trailer and initially drove them before parking and exiting the vehicle.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 1 before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo. De la Garza faces up to life in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tae W. Chon is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
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