Federal officers searched the home of a Starr County couple who was arrested Wednesday for smuggling people from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston using a Starr County District Attorney vehicle.
Multiple vehicles from Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, were seen outside the home of Magali Rosa, 40, in her Garceño home. Rosa was arrested on Wednesday along with her husband, Juan Antonio Charles, 40, while they were driving a Starr County District Attorney van near Victoria, TX with four undocumented immigrants inside.
Court documents show the couple was working with then-Starr County District Attorney crime victims coordinator Bernice Annette Garza. She was subsequently fired after her interview with federal and state agents in which she confirmed fraudulent documents were used to designate immigrants as crime victims.
Garza admitted she was the original driver of the vehicle and her involvement in the human smuggling conspiracy with Rosa and Charles. The crime victims coordinator also said “that they had made over forty (40) trips to transport undocumented aliens from the Rio Grande City, TX area to the Houston, TX area,” the criminal complaint said.
An HSI spokesperson spoke to The Monitor on background and confirmed agents were working an “enforcement action,” but declined to provide details due to the ongoing criminal investigation.
Charles, Rosa and Garza were charged with engaging in conspiracy to transport immigrants through the country.
Charles and Rosa appeared before a federal judge in Victoria on Thursday morning for their initial appearance to hear the charges made against them. A detention hearing was scheduled for the following week.
Garza’s initial appearance is also set for the following week.
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