A Texas woman pleaded guilty last week to drugging children and smuggling them across the southern border into the United States as part of a child smuggling ring.
In a Monday press release, Homeland Security Investigations announced that 23-year-old Vanessa Valadez pleaded guilty last week after “Valadez and other family members operated a child smuggling ring working to bring young noncitizen children from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into the United States” from August to September of 2023. Officials noted that all of the children trafficked in the child smuggling ring were under the age of five.
“On the night of Sept. 19, 2023, members of the smuggling ring retrieved a young girl from a stash house that the organization members operated,” officials stated in Monday’s press release. “The co-conspirators smuggled the girl across the border and delivered her to Valadez in downtown Laredo. Co-conspirators then took the child farther into the United States and delivered her to unknown people.”
Homeland Security Investigations officials intercepted members of the child smuggling ring on September 21, 2023, during a “routine border inspection.” Officials added, “To carry out their scheme, co-conspirators sedated the girl with melatonin gummies and used an unlawfully obtained birth certificate to deceive authorities into believing she was a family member.”
During the investigation into the child trafficking ring, Homeland Security Investigations said it discovered a message sent by one of Valdez’s co-conspirators. The message featured a picture of an unconscious child and a message written in Spanish, which said, “We knocked her out with some gummies.”
According to Homeland Security Investigations officials, Valdez and members of her family illegally trafficked at least four young girls from Mexico into the United States by drugging them and using fake birth certificates to pretend that the young girls were part of Valdez’s family. Homeland Security Investigations noted that three of the young girls remain unidentified and that officials have not determined their location.
Along with Valdez, 47-year-old Ana Laura Bryand, 20-year-old Kayla Marie Bryand, 43-year-old Jose Eduardo Bryand, 44-year-old Nancy Guadalupe Bryand, and 32-year-old Lizeth Esmeralda Bryand Arredondo have pleaded guilty to participating in the child trafficking operation.
Valadez is currently expected to be sentenced in January, where she faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
