Two Migrants Released near Border in Texas Accused of Human Smuggling in Vermont

Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents in Vermont arrested two migrants for human smuggling who illegally crossed the border into Texas as children and were subsequently released. The agents arrested the pair as they attempted to smuggle five migrants who crossed the Canadian border into Vermont and allegedly got in their vehicle.

Agents assigned to the Richford Border Patrol Station observed a Toyota 4Runner SUV driving slowly in an area know to be a human smuggling pickup area about a mile from the Canadian border in Morses Line, Vermont, according to court records reviewed by Breitbart Texas. The agents noticed two people in the vehicle at that time.

About ten minutes later, the agents observed the vehicle with Texas license plates again. This time, the SUV had more people inside, the criminal complaint states. Agents received information from communications staff that the vehicle is registered to Jose German Hernandez in Dallas, Texas.

The agents activated the emergency lights and the driver pulled over without incident, officials stated. During a roadside interview, the agent noted none of the occupants spoke English. The agent saw several people attempting to hide in the rear of the SUV.

The driver, Manuel Alexander Molina-Romero (29) told the agent he is a Honduran citizen who was brought to the U.S. as a child in August 2016 and was released into the U.S. to await a court appearance. The agent identified the front-seat passenger as Stefany Esmeralda Areaga-Herrera (23) who said she was also brought to the U.S. as a child in November 2016 and was released to await a court appearance.

The rear passengers were identified as citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, and Uzbekistan. None had documentation allowing them to be legally present in the U.S., officials stated.

Court records revealed that the two alleged human smugglers had immigration court dates in 2024 and 2023 respectively. Molina-Romero told agents they were visiting New York on a sightseeing trip. He alleged that Arreagas-Herrera planned the entire trip and paid for the gas along the way. He added that she was texting someone but had no idea what it was about.

Arreagas-Herrera told the agents that her passengers were from Burlington, Vermont, about an hour and a half to the south of where they were arrested. She told the agent that her GPS got her lost and that is why she was so far north. Later in the interview, she reportedly changed her story and blamed Molina-Romero. Agents searched her cell phone and found activity consistent with human smuggling.

The passengers reportedly told agents they paid between $1,500 and $3,800 to be smuggled into the U.S. Some reported owing additional fees — as high as $1,500 — upon arrival to their final destination.

Molina-Romero and Areaga-Herrera now face federal charges for transporting aliens while knowing they had entered the United States. A migrant from Mexico and an Uzbekistan migrant were charged with immigration violations. The other migrants were turned over to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers for expedited removal.

If convicted on the human smuggling charges, the pair could each face up to ten years in federal prison. The charge of being illegally present in the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison, prosecutors stated.