‘We Knocked Her Out With Some Gummies’

LAREDO, TX – A 23-year-old Laredo woman has pleaded guilty to smuggling a young child into the United States for financial gain, as announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Texas. 

From August to September 2023, Vanessa Valadez and other family members operated a child smuggling ring working to bring young non-citizen children from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into the United States. All the children were under the age of five. 

On the night of Sept. 19, 2023, members of the smuggling ring retrieved a young girl from a stash house that the organization members operated. The co-conspirators smuggled the girl across the border and delivered her to Valadez in downtown Laredo. Co-conspirators then took the child further into the United States and delivered her to unknown people.

On Sept. 21, 2023, members of the smuggling ring attempted to transport another young girl. However, law enforcement intercepted them following a routine border inspection at the Juarez Lincoln Bridge in Laredo. To carry out their scheme, co-conspirators had sedated the girl with melatonin gummies and used an unlawfully obtained birth certificate to deceive authorities into believing the girl was a family member. 

According to one of the conspirators, the smuggling ring had attempted to similarly transport at least four girls into the United States, three of whom remain unidentified, and their whereabouts are unknown. 

Members of the smuggling ring obtained birth certificates of U.S. citizen children to pose as a family unit at ports of entry to the United States. At times, members of the smuggling ring used melatonin gummies to sedate at least one child to ensure a successful smuggling attempt. 

The investigation revealed one of the co-conspirators sent a text message and an image depicting an unconscious child and a caption, “La noquiamos con unas gomitas,” translated in English as “We knocked her out with some gummies.”

“This smuggling case ranks among the most chilling we’ve ever seen - involving the systematic trade of transporting young children to unknown final destinations,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. “Let this prosecution serve as a stark warning to all those parents who might consider entrusting a precious child to the care of a criminal organization bent on making money by smuggling vulnerable children - your child could be sedated or drugged . . . or worse.”

Co-conspirators Ana Laura Bryand, 47, Dallas; her niece Kayla Marie Bryand, 20, Laredo, Jose Eduardo Bryand, 43, Laredo; Nancy Guadalupe Bryand, 44, all of Laredo; and Lizeth Esmeralda Bryand Arredondo, 32, Mexico, previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy. 

U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo will impose sentence Jan. 8, 2025. At that time, Valadez faces up to 10 years in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from Border Patrol, Laredo Police Department, Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General and FBI.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Terence A. Check Jr. is prosecuting the case with the assistance of AUSA Michael Makens.