Ex-Detective from Eagle Pass Sentenced to 10 Years for Role in Human Smuggling Conspiracy

Hazel Eileen Diaz, a former police detective from Eagle Pass, has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for her involvement in a human smuggling operation. Sentenced in Del Rio’s federal court, Diaz, 54, admitted to conspiring to harbor nearly 200 undocumented noncitizens between September 2020 and August 2021.

Court documents reveal Diaz rented multiple properties she owned in Eagle Pass to aid the smuggling organization (HSO), where she routinely collected rent from the properties harboring migrants. Investigators reported Diaz received over $36,000 in payments for her role and was found in possession of $23,522 in cash linked to the operation.

Co-defendants in the case, Tomas Alejandro Mendez and Paola Nikole Cazares, also contributed to operating Diaz’s properties as stash houses. Mendez, who pleaded guilty in 2022, will be sentenced in January 2025, while Cazares received a 63-month sentence in October 2023.

In addition to her prison term, Diaz will face three years of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, a money judgment of $237,600, and the forfeiture of three properties, a truck, and $23,522. The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, and Texas Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Pavlinski prosecuted the case.