Mexican man pleads guilty to conspiracy to smuggle migrants into U.S. through cartel-linked tunnel

Luis Carlos Dávalos-López, a 29-year-old Mexican man, pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle migrants into the United States through an underground tunnel connecting Ciudad Juárez with El Paso, Texas.

The tunnel, discovered in January last year, drew the attention of federal authorities after they intercepted calls between Dávalos-López and others discussing migrant smuggling through the passage. In several conversations, he specifically referred to the tunnel and discussed how many migrants crossed through it and how much they paid.

The calls included references to fees of more than $30,000 for migrants seeking to enter the United States illegally through the tunnel, according to a Justice Department statement. Dávalos-López and other defendants in the case were arrested in Mexico in April 2025 and later extradited to the United States.

Coult W. Markovsky, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's El Paso office, said the tunnel had been used to traffic migrants, drugs and weapons. He said the Jalisco New Generation Cartel built it.

"The discovery of this tunnel and the subsequent convictions of those involved in this operation underscore the FBI and our partners' continued commitment to dismantling human trafficking perpetrated by the CJNG," Markovsky said.

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The discovery of this tunnel and the subsequent convictions of those involved in this operation underscore the FBI and our partners' continued commitment to dismantling human trafficking perpetrated by the CJNG.