Smugglers Allegedly Gave Children THC-Laced Gummies to Sedate Them for Travel

Two Mexican nationals were arraigned in the Western District of Texas after being extradited from Mexico to face charges for smuggling unaccompanied alien children into the United States. A federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned an indictment on Sept. 24, 2025, charging Susana Guadian, 51, and Daniel Gaudian, 51, both of Juarez, Mexico, with conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens illegally to the United States for financial gain.

“These defendants are charged with smuggling multiple children across the southern border. The allegations include that they risked the safety of children by giving them THC-laced gummies to sedate them while smuggling them from Mexico into the United States to avoid the children answering questions from border law enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Protecting kids from smugglers, who will stop at nothing to exploit them, will always be one of the Department’s highest priorities.”

“Having Susana and Daniel Guadian in custody on this side of the border one year after they were indicted is a major development in a case that highlights the dangerous tactics that human smugglers employ when smuggling children,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “Like their co-defendants before them, these two will be aggressively prosecuted in federal court and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“There is nothing more reprehensible than exploiting vulnerable children for profit. Smuggling children across our border is not a victimless crime,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan G. McRae of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso. “Giving children cannabis-infused candy to sedate them is an especially disturbing abuse of their trust and safety. HSI will continue to hold accountable those who facilitate these dangerous schemes that treat children as commodities for financial gain and puts them in harm's way.” 

According to court documents, between on or about May 1 through Oct. 17, 2024, Susana and Daniel Guadian were part of an alien smuggling organization that brought unaccompanied alien children between the ages of 5 and 13 illegally into the United States from Juarez, Mexico. The complaint alleges that Susana Guadian and Daniel Guadian recruited drivers to transport the children by car from Mexico to a port of entry at the U.S. border. The drivers and their coconspirators would then present U.S. documents to inspecting officers falsely claiming the documents belonged to the children and that they were the children’s parents. 

During at least one smuggling event, the alien children were given gummy candies containing marijuana to sedate them. One of the children was taken to a local hospital and later diagnosed with marijuana poisoning. Once inside the United States, the children were then transported to El Paso, where, according to the complaint, others would pick up the children and provide payment to the drivers. The drivers were paid $900 for each minor that they brought into the United States. Co-defendant Manuel Valenzuela was sentenced on July 1 to five years in prison for his role in the child smuggling scheme and another co-defendant Dianne Guadian pleaded guilty for her role in the scheme on July 28. 

HSI El Paso and U.S. Border Patrol led investigative efforts, with substantial assistance from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force. 

Trial Attorney Bethany Allen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Engelbaum for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of Susana and Daniel Guadian.

The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecutors from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including HSI and Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 483 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 436 U.S. convictions; and more than 371 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and TCOs, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods.