2026年9月4日 / 美国东部时间下午1:40 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
在美国-墨西哥边境地下隧道被发现一年半多后，该走私网络的一名核心人物已承认一项共谋将移民带入美国的罪名。
检察官表示，墨西哥走私者路易斯·卡洛斯·达瓦洛斯-洛佩斯曾协助运营一个非法团伙，向偷渡者收取最高3万美元的费用以穿越入境美国。这条隧道从墨西哥华雷斯城出发，连接至得克萨斯州埃尔帕索的公共雨水排水系统。官员们在隧道被发现时透露，该隧道据称由臭名昭著的哈利斯科州新一代贩毒集团（CJNG）修建，在墨方一侧长度约1000英尺。
偷渡者进入埃尔帕索的市政雨水排水系统后，走私者会将他们通过地下通道转移至出口点，其中包括一处改造过的箱式货车，该货车位于一个井盖上方。偷渡者需通过一个活板门直接从排水管道爬入货车内。
美国司法部
调查人员通过窃听和监控手段，将该走私团伙与其他涉嫌非法活动联系起来，包括毒品和武器走私。
检察官表示，截获的通话记录显示达瓦洛斯-洛佩斯曾讨论过华雷斯至埃尔帕索隧道的细节：偷渡者如何通过该隧道、数万美元的偷渡费用以及物流安排。
这项共谋罪名最高可判处10年监禁，该案的侦破始于2025年1月，成为特朗普政府将与贩毒集团相关的走私行为视为恐怖主义打击对象的早期案例之一。
德克萨斯州西区联邦检察官贾斯汀·西蒙斯在一份声明中表示：“本案的被告是一个犯罪团伙的核心人物，该团伙对边境两侧都造成了严重的负面影响：他们向美国走私毒品和非法移民，同时向墨西哥贩运枪支，这些枪支随后被用于进一步推动毒品和非法移民向美国境内的转运。”“本案中获得的定罪，只是对这些跨国犯罪组织和外国恐怖组织的又一记重击。”
虽然达瓦洛斯-洛佩斯并未承认恐怖主义相关罪名，但他的同伙玛丽亚·德尔·罗萨里奥·纳瓦罗-桑切斯已于上月认罪，承认共谋为哈利斯科州新一代贩毒集团提供物质支持。纳瓦罗-桑切斯还面临毒品、武器走私和偷渡移民的指控。
尽管如此，该案凸显了美国在起诉贩毒集团方面的转变：将毒品、枪支和人口走私犯罪归类为恐怖主义犯罪。特朗普政府已将贩毒集团列为外国恐怖组织，使得检察官能够对此前被视为有组织犯罪的行为提起更严厉的指控。
Smuggler who brought migrants through tunnel under U.S.-Mexico border pleads guilty
September 4, 2026 / 1:40 PM EDT / CBS News
More than a year and a half after the discovery of an underground tunnel beneath the U.S.-Mexico border, a key figure in the smuggling network has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bring migrants into the United States.
Prosecutors said Mexican smuggler Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez helped run an illicit operation that charged migrants as much as $30,000 to cross into the U.S. The tunnel ran from Ciudad Juárez in Mexico and connected to the public storm drain system in El Paso, Texas. It was allegedly built by the notorious Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG, and ran for roughly 1,000 feet on the Mexican side of the border, officials said when it was discovered.
Once inside El Paso’s municipal storm drains, smugglers moved migrants underground to exit points, including a modified box truck over a manhole. Migrants were directed to climb directly from the drain into the truck via a trap door.
A photo of the tunnel provided by the Justice Department. Justice Department
Investigators used wiretaps and surveillance to connect the smuggling business to other alleged illicit activities, including drug and weapons trafficking.
Prosecutors said intercepted calls captured Davalos-Lopez discussing the details of the Juarez-to-El Paso tunnel: how migrants moved through it, fees of tens of thousands of dollars and logistics.
The conspiracy charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, closes the loop on an operation uncovered in January 2025 in a case that has served as an early test of the Trump administration’s effort to treat cartel-linked smuggling as counterterrorism.
“The defendants in this case were key figures in a criminal enterprise that has had a heavy, detrimental impact on both sides of the border, smuggling drugs and illegal aliens into the U.S. while also trafficking firearms into Mexico, firearms which were then used to further facilitate the movement of drugs and illegal aliens into this country,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas in a statement. “The convictions secured in this case are just another nail in the coffin for these transnational criminal organizations and foreign terrorist organizations.”
While Davalos-Lopez did not plead guilty to terrorism, his associate Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez did just last month, admitting to conspiracy to provide material support to CJNG. Navarro-Sanchez also faced drug, firearms-trafficking and alien-smuggling charges.
Still, the case underscores a shift in how the United States has begun prosecuting cartels, framing drug, gun and human smuggling crimes as terrorism crimes. The Trump administration has designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, empowering prosecutors to pursue harsher charges for conduct that was previously considered organized crime.
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