Two Dallas men charged with smuggling of persons remained in the Comal County Jail Wednesday afternoon, and the arresting agency had few details on the circumstances behind their arrests.
Jail records indicated Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested Humberto Martinez (aka Humberto Martinez-Sanchez) 32, and Luis Alfredo Martinez-Sanchez, 29, both of Dallas, around 2:42 p.m. Monday. Both are charged with smuggling of persons and remained jailed under $10,000 bond.
Sgt. Orlando Moreno, DPS’s San Antonio-area public information officer, said details about the arrest were contained in an arrest affidavit filed with the Comal County Jail.
While the Comal County Sheriff’s Office confirmed both suspects were also under holds placed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), it could not provide details in the affidavit.
Unclear is the suspects’ relationship to each other, what led to their arrests, where they were arrested and if other persons were involved. CCSO said it could not release the information because it is not the arresting agency.
Additional calls and emails requesting those details from DPS were returned Wednesday after the Herald-Zeitung filed an open records request for the information Tuesday afternoon.
Smuggling of persons charges range from a third-degree felony — such as using a vehicle to hide illegal aliens from law enforcement or transporting them in exchange for money — to a first-degree felony if those being transported suffer serious injury or death.
Both smuggling arrests are the first in the area since New Braunfels Police Department officers arrested and charged a Uvalde man with the offense Feb. 23. One of four Mexican nationals being transported northbound on Interstate 35 used a cell phone to place the 9-1-1 call that tipped off police, who stopped the car in the Buc-ee’s parking lot around 9 p.m.
Jaime Patrick Perez, 25, of Uvalde, was charged with smuggling of persons and eluding arrest with a vehicle. He bonded out of the county lockup two days later after posting $12,000 bond. The other men were not detained.
