Marvin Reyes, Human Smuggling, Texas 2024

HOUSTON – In a shocking case of human smuggling, Marvin Reyes, the leader of an organization that smuggled aliens through Corpus Christi, was ordered to forfeit $1 million and sentenced to 108 months in prison.

The investigation revealed that Reyes and others were coordinating the movement of illegal aliens through the Border Patrol checkpoints located near Sarita and Falfurrias as well as by airplane. Reyes also arranged private flights for illegal aliens from Weslaco to Houston.

This is not the only case of its kind in the Southern District of Texas. In the last week alone, over 200 new cases have been filed related to immigration and border security, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Of those, almost 100 are charged with illegally re-entering the country with the majority having felony convictions such as narcotics, violent crimes and prior immigration offenses. Over 80 face charges of illegally entering the country, 12 cases involve various instances of human smuggling, and the remainder relate to other immigration crimes.

Reyes’ case is a prime example of the type of organized crime that is plaguing the Southern District of Texas. Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for the Southern District of Texas (SDTX).

Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.

The SDTX remains one of the busiest in the nation, representing 43 counties and more than nine million people covering 44,000 square miles.

In other cases, a 27-year-old Los Fresnos man, Carlos Del Angel Bocanegra, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for attempting to smuggle an illegal alien further into the country after fleeing from authorities. Jesus Alberto Castro-Garza, a man with prior felony convictions, was sentenced to 106 months in prison for again illegally re-entering the United States.

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