EL CENTRO, Calif. – A Mexican man was charged Tuesday with coordinating a smuggling effort that left 13 people dead when their overloaded SUV was struck by a big-rig after crossing the border into California.
Jose Cruz Noguez, 47, of Mexicali, was arrested Monday night as he crossed into the United States at the Calexico Port of Entry.
He appeared Tuesday in federal court in El Centro and faces conspiracy and smuggling charges involving serious injury or placing lives in danger, according to a statement from the U.S.
attorney's office. He was assigned federal public defenders and ordered held in custody, the statement said. Prosecutors say Cruz organized a smuggling run in which 25 people were crammed into a 1997 Ford Expedition that drove