Federal prosecutors announced a guilty plea Monday for a woman who smuggled illegal immigrant children into the U.S. without their parents, and in at least one case used melatonin “gummies” to knock the kid out to sneak her in.
Vanessa Valadez admitted she and other family members ran a broader smuggling ring that brought 3-year-old and 4-year-old migrant kids into the U.S without their parents.
They used authentic U.S. birth certificates, claiming they belonged to the migrants, and would use gummies to knock them out so they would be asleep when they came through the border crossings.
