PHOENIX — A man has pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in operating a human smuggling stash house in Phoenix, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Officials said Macario Ulises Barragan-Cisneros, 45, of Mexico admitted to conspiring to transport and harbor illegal immigrants for profit.
Barragan-Cisneros was arrested on Sept. 12 in a trailer at the Camino Vista Mobile Home Park on West Van Buren Street.
Government officials said the trailer was used to hold undocumented noncitizens as part of a transnational human smuggling operation. Those involved smuggled foreign nationals across the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, Arizona and then transported them to Phoenix.
Homeland Security Investigations agents found 29 illegal immigrants, all from Mexico or Guatemala, in or around the trailer, officials said.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 10, 2022. A conviction for conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens for profit carries a maximum penalty of ten years, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both.
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