Smuggler who brought migrants through tunnel under U.S.-Mexico border pleads guilty

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September 4, 2026 / 1:40 PM EDT

/ CBS News

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More than a year and a half after the discovery of an underground tunnel beneath the U.S.-Mexico border, a key figure in the smuggling network has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bring migrants into the United States. Prosecutors said Mexican smuggler Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez helped run an illicit operation that charged migrants as much as $30,000 to cross into the U.S. The tunnel ran from Ciudad Juárez in Mexico and connected to the public storm drain system in El Paso, Texas. It was allegedly built by the notorious Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG, and ran for roughly 1,000 feet on the Mexican side of the border, officials said when it was discovered.Once inside El Paso's municipal storm drains, smugglers moved migrants underground to exit points, including a modified box truck over a manhole. Migrants were directed to climb directly from the drain into the truck via a trap door.