CBP officer indicted on human trafficking charges

PROGRESO — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the Progreso International Bridge was indicted last week in Louisiana on charges of transporting illegal aliens to his mother's home near New Orleans.

In 2004, Merlin Mireles, 39, drove a Mexican woman and her two children from Texas to Metairie, La., where his mother, Gloria Mireles, 66, gave the woman a place to live in exchange for house cleaning services, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The two were charged with conspiracy and with transporting and harboring illegal aliens. Gloria Mireles helped the woman get a part-time job and enroll her children in school, according to the indictment.

The three counts with which each is charged carry a maximum combined penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.