{"id":61217,"date":"2025-11-10T21:37:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T02:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=61217"},"modified":"2025-11-10T21:37:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T02:37:51","slug":"texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A lawful permanent resident of El Paso, Texas, has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a scheme that smuggled children from Mexico into the United States, sometimes using candy laced with THC to sedate them, according to federal prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Manuel Valenzuela, 35, a lawful permanent resident of El Paso, admitted to four charges related to the operation, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Western District of Texas said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-wdtx\/pr\/el-paso-resident-pleads-guilty-smuggling-drugged-children-us-mexico\">statement<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Court documents state that members of the smuggling network illegally brought unaccompanied children, some between the ages of five and 13, across the border from Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez into El Paso. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During some crossings, the children were given candy containing THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. One child was hospitalized after being diagnosed with THC poisoning at an El Paso hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prosecutors said smugglers used falsified U.S. documents at ports of entry, pretending to be the children\u2019s parents. Once across the border, Valenzuela picked up the children and paid the drivers involved in the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Valenzuela was arrested on August 30 along with Dianne Guadian, a U.S. citizen. Two Mexican nationals, Susana Guadian and Daniel Guadian, were also charged in a five-count indictment filed on September 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Valenzuela pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and three counts of aiding and abetting the smuggling of aliens for profit. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 11 years in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A lawful permanent resident of El Paso, Texas, has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a scheme that smuggled children from Mexico into the United States, sometimes using candy laced with THC to sedate them, according to federal prosecutors. Manuel Valenzuela, 35, a lawful permanent resident of El Paso, admitted to four [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1271,1269,3212,256,151],"class_list":["post-61217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","tag-ciudad-juarez-mexico","tag-el-paso-texas","tag-human-trafficking","tag-texas","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A lawful permanent resident of El Paso, Texas, has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a scheme that smuggled children from Mexico into the United States, sometimes using candy laced with THC to sedate them, according to federal prosecutors. Manuel Valenzuela, 35, a lawful permanent resident of El Paso, admitted to four [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bnonews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-11T02:37:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-11T02:37:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos Robles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bnonews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bnonews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos Robles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carlos Robles\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a2ca734b9c5688c0e2d40fe6f33add1\"},\"headline\":\"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-11T02:37:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-11T02:37:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\"},\"wordCount\":251,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez (Mexico)\",\"El Paso (Texas)\",\"Human trafficking\",\"Texas\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Legal\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\",\"name\":\"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy - BNO News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-11T02:37:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-11T02:37:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/\",\"name\":\"BNO News\",\"description\":\"Breaking news and developing stories from the U.S. and around the world\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BNO News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BNOLOGOTV.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BNOLOGOTV.png\",\"width\":1696,\"height\":1443,\"caption\":\"BNO News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bnonews\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/bnonews\",\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bnonews\/\",\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/bno-news\",\"http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bnonewstv\/\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/bnonews\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a2ca734b9c5688c0e2d40fe6f33add1\",\"name\":\"Carlos Robles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/vLTiH3uR_400x400-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/vLTiH3uR_400x400-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Carlos Robles\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/author\/crobles\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy - BNO News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy - BNO News","og_description":"A lawful permanent resident of El Paso, Texas, has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a scheme that smuggled children from Mexico into the United States, sometimes using candy laced with THC to sedate them, according to federal prosecutors. Manuel Valenzuela, 35, a lawful permanent resident of El Paso, admitted to four [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/","og_site_name":"BNO News","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bnonews\/","article_published_time":"2025-11-11T02:37:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-11T02:37:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carlos Robles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bnonews","twitter_site":"@bnonews","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carlos Robles","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/"},"author":{"name":"Carlos Robles","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a2ca734b9c5688c0e2d40fe6f33add1"},"headline":"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy","datePublished":"2025-11-11T02:37:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-11T02:37:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/"},"wordCount":251,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg","keywords":["Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez (Mexico)","El Paso (Texas)","Human trafficking","Texas","United States"],"articleSection":["Legal"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/","url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/","name":"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy - BNO News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-11T02:37:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-11T02:37:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/2020CourtGavel.jpg","width":1000,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/texas-resident-pleads-guilty-in-child-smuggling-scheme-involving-thc-laced-candy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Texas resident pleads guilty in child smuggling scheme involving THC-laced candy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/","name":"BNO News","description":"Breaking news and developing stories from the U.S. and around the world","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization","name":"BNO News","url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BNOLOGOTV.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BNOLOGOTV.png","width":1696,"height":1443,"caption":"BNO News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bnonews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bnonews","http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bnonews\/","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/bno-news","http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bnonewstv\/","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/bnonews"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a2ca734b9c5688c0e2d40fe6f33add1","name":"Carlos Robles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/vLTiH3uR_400x400-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/vLTiH3uR_400x400-150x150.jpg","caption":"Carlos Robles"},"url":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/author\/crobles\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61218,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61217\/revisions\/61218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}