Mexican people smuggler, 20, pleads guilty and admits to using SEWER pipes to sneak in migrants across the border before they were rescued from drowning in a river

A young Mexican man is facing up to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to smuggling seven undocumented migrants via sewer pipes between Mexico and the United States.

Kevin Campos, 20, appeared in federal court Thursday and admitted to charging the migrants $6,000 to lead them through a sewer system connecting Tijuana and San Diego on January 22.

The Tijuana resident was seen by U.S. Border Patrol agents through the pipes and then running away with three of the seven migrants to avoid being arrested.

Campos and the three of migrants fell into the Tijuana River and were rescued by San Diego lifeguards.

Footage released by U.S. Border Patrol the day of the incident showed two of the migrants standing in knee-high deep water before agents deployed a water raft to bring them to shore.

Several agents could be seen using a safety line to pull the raft to the shore before the migrants were placed under arrest.

Two undocumented migrants were among the four rescued by U.S. Border Patrol on January 22 after a smuggler identified as Kevin Campos smuggled them from Tijuana, Mexico to San Diego via a system of sewer pipes that run from California to Mexico. Campos pleased guilty to the smuggling incident during a hearing in a federal court Thursday

The U.S. Border Patrol rescued three of seven migrants from the Tijuana River on January 22 moments after they spotted Kevin Campos smuggling the individuals through a sewer pipe that runs from Tijuana, Mexico to San Diego. Campos told investigators the migrants had paid him $6,000 to illegally cross the border

'This case is yet another example of transnational smuggling organizations placing profits over safety,' U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said. 

'Thankfully, due to law enforcement intervention and the assistance of local lifeguards, all lives were spared.' 

Two of the migrants told investigators that they were afraid of crossing the river because they did not know how to swim, according to court records.

One of the individuals recalled being swept by the river's current and subsequently clinging to a tree branch before he was rescued.

The sewer system that runs between the United States and Mexico has grates installed to stop people from illegally crossing the border.

However, the grates are left open during periods of heavy rain to allow the water to flow through the sewer without causing damage to the grates.

U.S. Border Patrol agents guard a group of migrants and their smuggler who were rescued from the Tijuana River on January 22

Campos, authorities say, took advantage that the grates were opened at the time and escorted the migrants into San Diego.

'This is an important reminder that safety is of little concern to transnational criminal organizations,' U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector chief patrol agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel said. 

The San Diego Sector has registered 120,124 encounters with migrants illegally crossing the border through the first four months of fiscal year 2024 after reporting 230,941 in all of fiscal year 2023. 

'U.S. Border Patrol agents will continue to target human smugglers and deliver consequences to those who violate the laws of our nation," McGurk-Daniel said.