3 US Army soldiers arrested on human smuggling charges along the border with Mexico

ALPINE, Texas (AP) — A U.S. attorney in Texas says three U.S. Army soldiers have been arrested on human smuggling charges. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said in a Thursday news release that Fort Cavazos soldiers Emilio Mendoza Lopez, Angel Palma and Enrique Jauregui were arrested after a vehicle carrying Mendoza Lopez and allegedly driven by Palma was stopped by law enforcement in Presidio along the border with Mexico about 500 miles southwest of Dallas. Esparza says three undocumented foreign nationals were in the vehicle. Esparza says data on Palma’s cell phone implicates Jauregui as the ringleader of the human smuggling conspiracy.