Agents at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Falfurrias stopped a human smuggling incident last week where the ambulance driver and his partner admitted to being paid $50 each for the job, according to a criminal complaint.
Ricardo Garza and Christine Maria Ramirez, both emergency medical technicians, are charged with human smuggling after attempting to transfer a Mexican citizen from a facility in Peñitas to Alice in an ambulance Wednesday, Aug. 24.
According to the complaint, a Chevrolet ambulance entered the primary inspection lane at the checkpoint at about 5:45 p.m. where Garza told agents he was heading to a facility in Alice with a patient who suffers from “seizures from lights.”
Ramirez, who stayed in the back of the ambulance with the patient, told agents that the patient was sedated due to the nature of his condition and covered in a face mask covering his eyes, nose and mouth “so no light can get through,” the complaint said.
Not satisfied with the immigration inspection, the agents closed the back of the ambulance and instructed Garza to proceed to the secondary inspection area for further investigation where they were able to speak to the patient who revealed he was illegally present in the U.S., according to the complaint.
The document states that all three ambulance occupants were arrested and escorted into the checkpoint for further processing.
The document also notes that during a search of the ambulance, agents found a Ruger .380 LCP inside a green tote bag that was sitting between the driver and passenger seats which had one magazine with seven rounds of ammunition.
Garza later claimed ownership of the handgun, the complaint said.
In an interview with authorities, Garza said he was told to switch EMT units as the plate had fallen off of his initial unit and was then dispatched to a facility in Peñitas in order to pick up and transport a patient to Alice, the document said.
Garza said a nurse brought the patient out in a wheelchair when he left to use the bathroom and upon his return said the patient was already in the back of the EMT unit, according to the complaint.
In another interview with a Falfurrias intelligence agent, Garza admitted to being suspicious he was transporting someone who was in the country illegally and provided agents an envelope holding $50, which is something Ramirez corroborated during her interview, according to the document.
During her interview, Ramirez said she told her boss she was uncomfortable making the trips and didn’t want to do it anymore. She also stated that she didn’t know Garza had a firearm in his possession, the document stated.
“Although initially denying knowledge, Ramirez admitted she knew four or five times when she transferred patients to the facility in Alice, TX, they were …” not authorized to be in the country, the complaint said.
Ramirez then revealed that she would get paid $50 inside a goody bag with snacks from a man she had listed as “Coyote” in her cellphone contacts, according to the complaint.
The document stated the Mexican citizen said he doesn’t suffer from any illness, that he wasn’t staying at a hospital or medical facility and was on his way to Austin where his brother lives.
Garza and Ramirez are set to appear before Magistrate Judge Jason B Libby on Sept. 1 for their detention hearing.
