Federal prosecutors in Texas have made arrests in connection with a human smuggling operation where Customs and Border Patrol found children drugged with THC gummies.
Justin Simmons is the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
"The children that were given the THC gummies were 12, nine, three, and two," Simmons said. "When CBP recognizes when they were trying to cross with this group of children that something wasn't right they realized those children needed some kind of medical treatment, they got a couple of them to the hospital to receive that treatment."
The children were later diagnosed with THC poisoning.
Law enforcement officers were able to track the operation to Juarez on the Mexico side of El Paso, Texas.
The arrests are part of Joint Task Force Alpha which is a federal operation targeting Transnational Criminal Organizations involved in human smuggling.
Separately, federal prosecutors also announced Thursday that a number of Guatemalan nationals investigators say were connected to a deadly human smuggling operation in Mexico four years ago have been extradited to the Texas.
50 people were killed in 2021 when a tractor-trailer overturned in Mexico with 160 people on board. Children were among those killed.