Federal prosecutors have brought charges against smugglers they say led a group of 11 illegal immigrants into the U.S., then abandoned three of them to their deaths when they were unable to keep up with the group.
Border Patrol agents were alerted by a family member of one of the migrants in the group, who said they were lost in remote deserts in southern New Mexico and had run out of water. Some people in the group had already died, the caller said.
Responding agents found seven migrants, including the two men they pinned as the smuggling guides.