A man who met an alien smuggling coordinator on Facebook, Isaiah Osorio, has been charged with Transportation of Illegal Aliens for Profit while Placing in Jeopardy the Life of Any Person and High Speed Flight from an Immigration Checkpoint.
Osorio, age 23, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was arrested on May 24 and appeared in federal court Thursday afternoon.
According to the Department of Justice, after Osorio met the smuggling coordinator on Facebook, he arranged the smuggling attempt through WhatsApp.
On May 24, Osorio drove to southern Arizona and picked up multiple undocumented migrants. After transporting the migrants for approximately half an hour, Osorio noticed law enforcement behind him. He stopped and began yelling at his passengers to get out. The last passenger had not fully exited the vehicle when Osorio pushed him out and started driving again. The passenger fell and Osorio ran over him as he fled from law enforcement.
Border Patrol immediately rendered aid and called for emergency medical services to respond. The passenger was transported to the hospital where he was treated for injuries including abrasions and head trauma. Osorio later fled from a Border Patrol immigration checkpoint before eventually yielding to agents.