Former Eagle Pass Police Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Operating Human Smuggling Stash Houses

DEL RIO, Texas - An Eagle Pass woman, who had served as a police detective, was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 120 months in prison for her role in a conspiracy to harbor undocumented noncitizens for a human smuggling organization (HSO).

According to court documents, Hazel Eileen Diaz, 54, rented out multiple properties she owned in Eagle Pass to assist in harboring undocumented noncitizens between September 2020 and August 2021. Diaz would often travel to the properties where the migrants were being held to collect rent payments. An investigation revealed that, in total, nearly 200 migrants were smuggled by the HSO Diaz worked for, and that she had received approximately $36,916 in cash and money service business transfers, much of which were proceeds from human smuggling. At the time of her arrest, she was in possession of $23,522 in cash from the smuggling operation.

Co-defendant Tomas Alejandro Mendez pleaded guilty on July 11, 2022 to one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 13, 2025. Co-defendant Paola Nikole Cazares was sentenced Oct. 11, 2023 to 63 months in prison for the same offense with credit for time served since Aug. 26, 2021. Mendez and Cazares worked with Diaz to operate her properties as stash houses.

In addition to imprisonment, Diaz will serve three years of supervised release, pay a $10,000 fine and money judgement of $237,600, and she will forfeit three properties, a truck, and $23,522.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Pavlinski prosecuted the case.

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