PHOENIX — Federal prosecutors have obtained indictments against 22 individuals suspected of using social media apps like Snapchat to recruit young people into becoming human smugglers.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of Arizona announced this week that it was unsealing 13 indictments filed against a group of defendants accused of conspiring to smuggle people into the U.S. for money.
The defendants would allegedly use Snapchat and other social media platforms to post advertisements for drivers who could help transport undocumented migrants within Arizona.
"The Snapchat application, in conjunction with other means, has been utilized by persons associated with such human smuggling organizations to coordinate, carry out, and attempt to carry out these activities," one of the criminal indictments states.
Prosecutors said these job postings would try to appeal to young people by often glamorizing human smuggling and downplaying the inherent risk of participating in such criminal activity.
Several young people have ended up in dire circumstances by agreeing to help human smugglers and some in Arizona have not made it out alive.
Children as young as 12 have been detained by law enforcement in southern Arizona for picking up migrants at the border.
In 2019, a 17-year-old boy died in the Arizona desert after he got lost while attempting to guide a group of migrants. The Tucson man who had recruited the teen into the smuggling operation was later sentenced to 10 years in prison.
If convicted, the 22 defendants recently charged in Arizona could face up to 10 years in prison.
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