11.   Carter then told investigators that he was working as a middle man for a smuggling operation.

12.   Federal officials involved in the investigation said they were approached a year ago by an immigrant in Dallas who detailed the smuggling operation.

13.   Four of the seven Chinese nationals charged in connection with the alleged smuggling operation have pleaded guilty.

14.   He detailed the surprisingly sophisticated smuggling operation that ferried him from his hometown to the border, then across.

15.   He was not a formal part of the smuggling operation that hired him, much less the ringleader.

16.   He was supposed to obtain certificates authorizing them to work in the United States that would be used in the smuggling operation.

17.   His smuggling operation employed shipping containers and sailing vessels to move the freight, the officials said.

18.   It was a smuggling operation that ran like clockwork.

19.   Jack is first seen atop the mast of a boat, involved in a smuggling operation that ends in mayhem.