TikTok video leads to arrest of alleged human smuggler charging $100 per immigrant

A TikTok video has led immigration authorities to a suspect accused of smuggling illegal immigrants, with the man admitting that he had previously transported 10 undocumented individuals. 

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced that Victor Eduardo De La Fuente is among the 242 new immigration cases filed by federal prosecutors from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. 

The attorney's office disclosed that charges have been brought against human smugglers and illegal aliens whose past convictions include child sexual assault, violent crimes, driving while intoxicated and multiple prior removals. 

De La Fuente has once again been charged with human smuggling following his arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The suspect was previously convicted of conspiracy to transport immigrants in 2024. 

According to the latest criminal complaint, De La Fuente claims to be a U.S. citizen but lives in Juarez. The suspect is reportedly the owner of a vehicle depicted in a TikTok video that showed illegal immigrants transferring into his car from another vehicle. 

While the suspect admitted that he had previously transported 10 immigrants for a fee of $100 per migrant, he told agents that he was not the driver seen in the TikTok video. 

The Intelligence Unit of the USBP noted the license plates on a Ford Edge vehicle in the video that appeared to be picking up migrants in the United States, KTSM 9 reports.  Border Patrol located the vehicle while agents in plain clothes investigated an apartment complex near the border wall on Loop 375 in El Paso.

When agents later intercepted De La Fuente before he could cross into Mexico, the suspect agreed to be interviewed at a Border Patrol station, according to court records referenced by KTSM 9. The suspect admitted he owned the Ford Edge but claimed that someone else "gave him" the car months ago. 

"The defendant was shown the TikTok video involving the transfer (of migrants) to the Ford Edge but claimed he was not the driver. The defendant claims (he) had transferred illegal aliens using the Ford Edge to (another vehicle) and location on prior events," a Border Patrol investigator stated in a Feb. 5 complaint cited by KTSM 9. 

De La Fuente was previously arrested in June 2023 after he reportedly led the El Paso Police Department and Border Patrol agents on a high-speed chase, according to the criminal complaint. The chase ended after the vehicle came to a stop on a dirt road, and several people, including those who had been inside of the trunk, attempted to flee. 

Following the 2023 apprehension, De La Fuente was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants. A date for the suspect's detention hearing in federal court in El Paso regarding his most recent charges has not yet been set. 

U.S. Border Patrol officials told the outlet that smugglers will often use social media applications like TikTok to advertise their services. 

Authorities who have dealt with human smuggling cases have also spoken of the abusive treatment migrants typically suffer at the hands of smugglers, as well as the dangerous conditions they're often exposed to during the journey.

In January 2025, the police department in Hurley, New Mexico, discovered 11 migrants padlocked in the back of a rented truck close to midnight on New Year's Eve, with another seated at the front of the vehicle. The police department in Hurley contacted Border Patrol for assistance with the situation.

The migrants padlocked inside the van reportedly came from various countries, including Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. The suspect, facing human smuggling charges, also had a Mexican driver's license.