Gary M. Restaino, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona
Last week, a grand jury indicted Edgar Guadalupe Jimenez-Aguilar, an undocumented immigrant residing in Phoenix. He faces charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Border Patrol identified Jimenez-Aguilar as a driver who transported immigrants from desert areas in Pinal and Pima Counties to Phoenix. He allegedly operated a stash house in Phoenix for harboring these individuals and recruited others as drivers.
Between late 2024 and January 2025, agents interviewed other drivers arrested for transporting immigrants. These drivers claimed Jimenez-Aguilar had recruited them. Surveillance was conducted on him and his stash house. On October 3, 2024, officers from the Tohono O’odham Police Department stopped a vehicle with four passengers unlawfully present in the U.S., including two hidden in the trunk.
The driver revealed recruitment through social media and involvement in multiple smuggling ventures, having visited Jimenez-Aguilar’s stash house. On January 28, 2025, agents stopped a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Mesa driven by Jimenez-Aguilar using his Sonoran driver's license. Inside were approximately 297 grams of black tar heroin.
Possession with intent to distribute heroin carries penalties ranging from five years to 40 years imprisonment and fines up to $5 million. Conspiracy to transport illegal aliens can result in up to ten years imprisonment and fines up to $250,000.
An indictment charges an individual but does not imply guilt; innocence is presumed until proven otherwise beyond reasonable doubt by evidence presented before a jury.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: United States Border Patrol's Alien Smuggling Unit – Tucson Sector, Homeland Security Investigations – Casa Grande, Pinal and Pima County Sheriff Departments, Tohono O’odham Police Department, and Arizona Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Kubota is prosecuting the case.
