Border Patrol warns of rideshare human smuggling risks in El Paso

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

U.S. Border Patrol in far west Texas is warning rideshare drivers about human smugglers using rideshare apps to organize illegal smuggling activity.

In the U.S. Custom and Border Protection Sector of El Paso, which includes two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico, Border Patrol agents are warning rideshare drivers about the severe legal and physical dangers they face if they fall victim to or participate in transnational criminal smuggling operations.

El Paso is a major human smuggling corridor located directly across the Rio Grande River from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, one of the most violent places in the world. The Juárez Cartel and street gangs associated with it, La Línea and Bario Azteca, have been warring with the Sinaloa Cartel for control of a multi-billion-dollar human trafficking and drug trade there. The city is also known for the targeted murder of women. Over the past 30 years, more than 2,300 women have been murdered there, according to multiple reports.

Border Patrol is now warning that human smugglers are increasingly using legitimate mobile apps “to insulate themselves from law enforcement” by arranging rideshare pickups in the region. This includes in secluded desert locations, on remote highway shoulders near the border wall or in commercial staging lots, the agency says.

Border Patrol is urging rideshare drivers to be on the lookout for signs of human smuggling. This includes “passengers wearing heavily soiled clothing, groups attempting to exceed vehicle occupant limits, third-party bookings where the account holder is absent, or passengers who appear visually stressed and unaware of their current location.”

Border Patrol is also warning that drivers who accept suspicious fares risk being detained and investigated at highway checkpoints. Under federal and state law, they could face felony charges for “alien smuggling and harboring.”

State penalties are more severe than federal penalties after Gov. Greg Abbott and the state legislature responded to a worsening border crisis. Smugglers face up to 10 years in prison per state smuggling charge. Smugglers facing federal charges have historically faced only a few years in prison, The Center Square has reported. Texas also increased state penalties for stash houses and kidnapping, The Center Square reported.

“Cartel criminal smugglers recklessly endanger the lives of rideshare drivers and passengers alike, treating legitimate drivers as disposable tools for their smuggling operations,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jesse Munoz said in a statement. “When these trips are intercepted, drivers face immediate detention and asset forfeiture while federal agents investigate their level of involvement in the smuggling network.”

Border Patrol is also advising drivers who encounter suspicious pickup requests to prioritize their safety and immediately cancel the ride and drive away. They are also encouraging them to use in-app security functions, document their routes and report security concerns to their rideshare platform.

El Paso has been a focus of law enforcement targeting cartel-associated crime for years.

As the border crisis worsened in 2022 under the Biden administration, the FBI El Paso Bureau issued alerts nearly every month about kidnapping and extortion crimes occurring in El Paso, The Center Square reported. Federal agents have also been investigating and finding stash houses in El Paso. Stash houses are used to hold illegal foreign nationals either for ransom or until they are trafficked into the interior of the U.S. They often create life threatening conditions because they aren’t adequately ventilated, cooled or heated, The Center Square reported.

Texas Department of Public Safety officers also are actively thwarting criminal activity through Abbott’s border security initiative, Operation Lone Star. In one case, they rescued a kidnapped baby being held for ransom, The Center Square reported.

Cartel traffickers have also been holding illegal foreign nationals in El Paso hotels, Airbnb rentals and then trashing them, DPS said when OLS operations were ramping up in the El Paso region in 2023, The Center Square reported.

El Paso was also a key city used by a Guatemalan Lopez crime family human smuggling operation for years. Their operation generated up to $400 million by smuggling thousands of foreign nationals through Mexico into New Mexico and throughout the United States, The Center Square reported. In 2025, nine of the 10 Lopez crime family members pleaded guilty and received light sentences. One family member remains a fugitive.

Law enforcement agencies are encouraging members of the public, including rideshare drivers, to report suspicious activity or suspected human smuggling by calling 911 and law enforcement hotlines. Border Patrol’s hotline is 1-800-635-2509. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hotline is 1-866-347-2423.

The FBI El Paso’s hotline is 915-832-5000. Tips may also be submitted anonymously at https://tips.fbi.gov.