Texas Troopers Arrest Smuggler Accused of Bringing 5-Year-Old Girl Across Border

The girl's mother, a temporary U.S. resident, allegedly paid $8,000 to a smuggling organization to bring her daughter from Mexico to Texas.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stopped a truck in Del Rio, Texas, after surveillance footage showed a man carrying a child across the Rio Grande.
The arrested smuggler, Roman Ibarra Rojo, allegedly confessed to being paid $1,000 to transport the 5-year-old girl into the U.S.
The girl's mother, Dolores Lopez, a temporary resident of North Carolina originally from Mexico, was also in the truck and admitted to paying $8,000 to a smuggling group.
Authorities are recommending child endangerment charges against Lopez, though the decision to prosecute rests with the district attorney.
The smuggler, who had a prior arrest for smuggling in 2022, has been charged with smuggling a person under the age of 18.