$900 a Child, THC Gummies to Keep Them Quiet: Juárez Couple Extradited to El Paso, Texas, Accused of Smuggling Kids Ages 5 to 13 Across the Border
A married couple from Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, has been extradited to the United States. Prosecutors say Susana and Daniel Guadian, both 51, ran part of a scheme that smuggled children ages 5 to 13 through El Paso ports of entry, sometimes sedating them with THC-laced gummies so they would not answer officers’ questions. Drivers were paid $900 per child, the U.S. Justice Department said on Sept. 29, 2026.
What prosecutors allege
According to the Justice Department, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas indicted the Guadians on Sept. 24, 2025. They are charged with conspiracy to transport aliens and with bringing aliens into the U.S. illegally for financial gain. After being extradited from Mexico, they were arraigned in the same district. KFOX14 reported that the pair had been in Mexican custody for about a year.
Court documents cited by the department say the pair belonged to a smuggling organization that operated from about May 1 to Oct. 17, 2024. They allegedly recruited drivers to take unaccompanied children by car from Juárez to a port of entry. There, the drivers and others showed officers U.S. documents that belonged to other children and falsely claimed to be the children’s parents. After crossing, the children were taken to El Paso and handed to people who paid the drivers.
One child hospitalized
Prosecutors say the children were given marijuana gummies to sedate them on at least one crossing. One child was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with marijuana poisoning. “Giving children cannabis-infused candy to sedate them is an especially disturbing abuse of their trust and safety,” said Ryan G. McRae, acting special agent in charge of HSI El Paso.
Two co-defendants already convicted
The department said co-defendant Manuel Valenzuela was sentenced on July 1 to five years in prison. Another co-defendant, Dianne Guadian, pleaded guilty on July 28. HSI El Paso and the U.S. Border Patrol led the investigation, which was supported by Joint Task Force Alpha, the department’s human-smuggling task force. The release does not name a cartel or criminal group behind the organization. It spells Daniel’s surname “Gaudian” once and “Guadian” elsewhere.
Susana and Daniel Guadian are charged but not convicted, and they are presumed innocent. The release does not name their attorneys or say whether they have entered pleas.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Mexican Couple Extradited from Mexico for Smuggling Unaccompanied Alien Children into the United States,” Sept. 29, 2026.
- KFOX14/CBS4, “Juarez couple arraigned in smuggling case involving sedating children with marijuana candy,” Sept. 29, 2026.
- Photos: U.S. Department of Justice (gummies); U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Wikimedia Commons (port of entry file photo).
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Reported Sept. 29, 2026, from a Justice Department release and KFOX14 coverage. The allegations come from court documents cited by prosecutors and have not been proven in court. The Justice Department release does not identify defense attorneys, and this report does not include a response from the defense.