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Dozens of teenagers and young adults are getting recruited via social media applications to smuggle undocumented migrants from the Arizona-Mexico border to larger cities farther in the country like Tucson and Phoenix.
Investigators and analysts said the lure of fast and easy money, plus lies about the consequences they can face if they get caught, make young U.S. citizens especially vulnerable recruits.
Smuggling organizations will pay drivers anywhere between $200 per carload to as much as $2,500 per person they help smuggle into the interior of the U.S. But these actions carry tremendous risks. Inexperienced drivers recruited to smuggle people can often end up in jail, injured in car crashes or even dead.
What’s more, those responsible for investigating and prosecuting the cases said they are seeing an increase in the number of high-speed chases and rollover accidents in southern Arizona involving teenagers and young adults smuggling people.
"It's a daily occurrence along the interstate and the major highways leading up into the Phoenix metropolitan area,” said Ray Rede, assistant special agent in charge for U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the agency responsible for investigating cross-border criminal activity, including transnational smuggling organizations.
One of the most recent and deadly examples happened last month when an 18-year-old from Phoenix rolled over as he was fleeing law enforcement.
On April 21, Kevin Avila lost control of a gold Toyota RAV4 as he sped off from an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper. His vehicle crossed the median and crashed into a tractor trailer on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Picacho, shutting down the freeway for several hours.
The crash killed three Mexican migrants that Avila was transporting to Phoenix. He was hospitalized and taken into custody after his release. Avila remains in jail and faces 14 felony counts stemming from the rollover accident, including three for manslaughter.
Last year, 22 people died in pursuits, up from 14 in 2020 and two in 2019, according to ACLU data. Between 2015 and 2018, at least 250 people were injured and 22 killed in Border Patrol pursuits, revealed an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica.
The agency will “soon” update its policy on vehicle pursuits, Commissioner Chris Magnus told the Associated Press in late May.
Teenagers, young adults recruited on social media
The Arizona Republic reviewed the records for dozens of smuggling cases in local and federal courts in southern Arizona. The records, including law enforcement accident reports and criminal complaints filed in court, offer glimpses into how teens and young adults are recruited.
More than half of the drivers caught in southeastern Arizona were somewhere between 14 and 28 years-old, local law enforcement records show. Most drivers came from the Phoenix area, while some came from as far away as Michigan.
In July 2021, a DPS trooper pulled over a Huyndai Sonota traveling along I-10 near the same area where Avila crashed his car April 21. The trooper said the car was sagging from the back and found two adults and an eight-year-old child hidden in the trunk.
Troopers arrested Adrianna Espinoza, 19, and her boyfriend Mario Parra-Vasquez, 22. Espinoza admitted to investigators that she had been recruited via Snapchat by another woman with the username “Disneyplugg” to smuggle people.
Parra-Vasquez said they were supposed to get paid $1,000 to drive them from Douglas to Phoenix.
Recruiters make it a point to draw them in that way, investigators said.
"Money is a huge motivator. Right? They're going to throw up pictures of money, large sums of money, and they're very brazen about it,” Rede said.
Many recruited teens feel disassociated from the transnational criminals with whom they are texting, Rede suggested. There is a false sense of safety behind social media handles and the idea that, if they step on the gas and drive away from the border, that past will remain behind them. Then federal agents knock on their doors.
“A lot of people believe that when you are on these platforms that, you know, your digital persona, who you really are, is not going to be found. And that’s just not true.”
Espinoza consented to let investigators search her phone after her arrest. They took screenshots of conversations on her phone coordinating the transportation of undocumented migrants in Douglas, including a Google Maps location indicating where to pick them up.
Both Espinoza and Parra-Vasquez pleaded guilty earlier this year and were sentenced to probation.
Cochise County: Enforcement based on consequences
In October 2021, Felix Mendez ran a red light in a main intersection in Whetstone, Ariz. He rammed into a silver sedan at about 100 mph, nearly slicing it in half and instantly killing Wanda Sitoski, a 65-year-old Benson resident.
Mendez, a 16-year-old teen from Mesa, was recruited through social media to transport undocumented migrants up to Phoenix. Near Tombstone, a marshal attempted a traffic stop. Mendez fled and, even as officers cut off the pursuit, continued driving at high speed.
Those incidents reflect a rising trend in Cochise County, Sheriff Mark Dannels said.
As a result, in February his office launched a new program to “address the epidemic of Failure to Yield (Pursuits) plaguing Cochise County.” They branded a new interagency effort — involving local, state, and federal law enforcement — the Safe Streets task force.
From mid-February to early May, 305 drivers were apprehended. At least 234 were known to be illegally transporting undocumented migrants; 166 yielded when signaled by officers, data provided by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office shows. Twenty percent transported narcotics as well.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels speaks at the Governor's Office of Highway Safety's DUI Task Force Launch at the Capitol in Phoenix on Dec. 2, 2021.
Because many cases were handled by Border Patrol agents, information on the driver’s identity is missing for nearly 100 cases. For all other incidents, more than half of the drivers were young adults from age 14 to 28. The oldest driver was 61.
Nearly 93% of drivers were U.S. citizens. Some came from as far away as Detroit, Mich., and Sauk Village, Ill.
Cochise County Sheriff's Commander Robert Watkins told local media that the Safe Streets task force is not an anti-smuggling effort but “an anti-jerk-driving-though-our community-at-130-mph campaign.” The main goal is to ensure public safety and deter illegal behavior, he said.
However, the operations are funded largely through state Border Security Funds.
The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs awarded about $12.8 million in grants to the Sheriff’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office. The money pay the deputies' overtime and excess incarceration and prosecution costs stemming from border crimes.
Under those agreements, the county has the ambition of “preventing human trafficking,” entry of drugs, undocumented migrants and “terrorists.”
Cochise County officers are prohibited from engaging in vehicle pursuits for immigration violations. Guidance indicates they are allowed to engage in a pursuit if the driver is likely to be involved in a felony against people or is "likely to endanger human life."
Dannels said that, although distinct, human smuggling and human trafficking are often related.
"Human smuggling, though there's a consensual thought behind it, is still an exploitation of people. I think it is horrible,” Dannels said.
"We don't care if you're a citizen or a noncitizen. The bottom line is if you're a victim of a crime in Arizona, we're going to address it.”
Prosecutions stepped up in Southern Arizona
Investigators say human smuggling organizations prey on vulnerable teens and young adults to recruit them with promises of fast, easy money.
But their age does not mean their consequences will be lighter, especially if the smuggling incident results in deaths or injuries, Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre said.
"If they're 14 and above and they committed a dangerous offense, which that is a dangerous offense using that vehicle as a deadly weapon, then they become eligible for adult prosecution,” he said.
His office is prosecuting at least 32 open cases since the start of 2022 involving young drivers who fled from law enforcement and face multiple charges for endangerment, aggravated assault and even kidnapping stemming from smuggling attempts in that corner of the state.
The county has been aggressively prosecuting juveniles as adults since 2012.
Teenagers and young adults arrested can face either federal or state charges, depending on which agency arrests and investigates them. The county cannot prosecute federal crimes such as smuggling, but they can charge the suspects with a lengthy list of state violations.
Mendez, the 16-year-old from Mesa, was charged by Superior Court of Arizona with first degree murder, kidnapping, second degree murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, endangerment, unlawful flight from law enforcement and criminal damages.
Investigation efforts have also resulted in the incarceration of recruiters who use social media to target new drivers.
On May 13, a federal judge in Tucson sentenced Isaiah Brinkley to 75 months in prison for his role in coordinating a smuggling attempt that ended in a deadly rollover accident in January 2020. He had coordinated at least four other smuggling attempts since 2019 and admitted to getting paid $3,900 per person to oversee their pickup and travel.
Often times, the people the drivers transport into the U.S. become material witnesses in the case. That means their testimony is used as proof to convict the drivers.
Rui Wang is the criminal division chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tucson. She helps prosecute these cases in southern Arizona. Her office prioritizes smuggling incidents involving injuries and deaths and those that pose a danger to communities along southern Arizona, she said.
Prosecutors in Arizona have noticed a large uptick in the number of drivers, such as Kevin Avila, who had weapons in their possession as they transported migrants from the border to cities deeper into the country.
“And that also increases the risk to everyone, to law enforcement who are interacting with people during stops to the humans, the people who are being smuggled themselves,” Wang said. “And also, you know, there are additional legal consequences for all those things for failing to yield, for having firearms, and makes it more serious offense.”
Accidents happening across the border
High-speed chases and accidents that result from them are not just happening along southern Arizona. They are happening along the entire southwestern U.S. border.
Last June, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced the creation of the Joint Task Force Alpha, an initiative that brings investigators and prosecutors from the U.S., Mexico and Central America to help tackle transnational smuggling organizations.
The task force increased cooperation and coordination among the four U.S. districts along the U.S.-Mexico border: the Southern District of California, the District of Arizona, and the Western and the Southern Districts of Texas.
That has allowed them to target middle- and upper-level members of the smuggling networks.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. said in a written statement that they have made a lot of progress over the past year.
"Though challenges and much work remains, this joint law enforcement effort with our partners across the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security has already generated results: numerous arrests, indictments, convictions, substantial prison sentences, and significant asset forfeitures," the statement said. "JTFA’s efforts have also resulted in stronger partnerships with our foreign law enforcement counterparts in the region with whom we must work together to tackle this problem."
Ducey wants social media companies to do more, meets with Snapchat
Elected leaders in Arizona also are asking social media companies to do more to keep smuggling groups from targeting vulnerable teens and young adults with ads on their sites.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey sent a letter earlier this month to four social media companies — Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter — urging them to do more to screen ads used to recruit drivers to pick up migrants at the border.
"In screening these ads, your companies can increase the safety of our communities while also protecting these kids from enticement into activity that will ultimately result in their involvement with the judicial system and all the consequences that come with that," Ducey’s letter said.
Snapchat appeared in numerous court records as the social media app used most frequently to recruit drivers. The company told The Arizona Republic they had a constructive first meeting with Ducey’s office to address the concerns he outlined in his letter.
Snapchat said their app has built-in features to prevent strangers from seeking out and engaging with users, and to confidentially report content that violates their terms of service.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our community and we explicitly prohibit using Snapchat for any illegal activity. We encourage people to immediately report illegal content and activity to law enforcement, as well as to us using our in-app reporting tools,” the company said in a statement.
“Our global safety teams also work around the clock to quickly investigate any reports and take appropriate action. We will continue to work in close collaboration with law enforcement and support investigations to help prevent abuse on our platform,” the statement added.
The company added that they have a Law Enforcement Operations team whose job is dedicated to handling requests from law enforcement agencies for data pertaining to their investigations, and to turn over account records in accordance with privacy laws.
Snapchat also said they plan on holding an annual summit focused on educating and strengthening collaborations with law enforcement agencies.
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