14 Charged With Smuggling Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants Into America

Human smugglers drive ATVs on the Mexican side of the U.S. border wall near Jacumba, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

More than a dozen members of a “prolific alien smuggling organization” were charged for allegedly facilitating the illegal entry of people from Central and South America across the southern border, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The indictment was issued by a grand jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico, against 14 individuals, eight of whom were arrested on Feb. 20 and 21, the agency said in a Feb. 24 statement.

In addition to smuggling illegal immigrants, the defendants also were reportedly responsible for transporting them within the country and hiding them at “stash houses” during the journey.

“During some of the smuggling events, the defendants allegedly evaded law enforcement by traveling at high rates of speed on the road and instructing aliens how to flee U.S. Border Patrol and evade checkpoints,” the DOJ said.

One illegal immigrant died from heat exposure during a smuggling event and was left in a desert area, the DOJ said.

All defendants are charged with conspiracy to “bring to, transport, and harbor” illegal immigrants in the United States. If convicted, they face a maximum 10-year prison term.

According to Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, the DOJ worked with Homeland Security to dismantle the operation that “allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal aliens, including unaccompanied children, through New Mexico and South Texas.”

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Holland S. Kastrin said human smuggling organizations “threaten our national security and exploit vulnerable individuals for profit, putting their lives at risk and undermining public safety.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Border Patrol, with other agencies assisting.

These actions involved coordinated efforts of the Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), which marshals resources from the DOJ and Homeland Security to boost enforcement efforts against human smuggling and trafficking groups in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and Panama.

To date, more than 355 domestic and international arrests have been made in connection with smuggling illegal immigrants as a result of JTFA’s work.

‘Prolific’ Smugglers

Multiple individuals have been arrested in recent weeks for their involvement in human smuggling operations.

On Feb. 24, the DOJ announced that a “prolific” illegal immigrant smuggler, Raul Saucedo-Huipio, 49, was extradited from Mexico to the United States as part of a JTFA investigation.

Saucedo-Huipio was arrested in Mexico in March 2023 and was handed over to U.S. authorities on Feb. 21 to face charges already filed in the District of Arizona.

The defendant worked with other smugglers to enable a large number of migrants from around the world to travel into the United States, the department said.

Saucedo-Huipio and a co-conspirator, Ofelia Hernandez-Salas, 62, “allegedly charged the migrants as much as tens of thousands of dollars to make the journey and directed the migrants where to unlawfully cross the border into the United States, including by providing them with a ladder to climb over the border fence,” it said.

The defendant and the co-conspirator “also allegedly robbed the migrants of money and personal belongings while armed with guns and knives,” the DOJ said.

This past week, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office carried out a “significant enforcement operation to dismantle a prolific transnational alien smuggling organization operating in Juarez, Chihuahua, along the U.S.–Mexico border,” the DOJ said.

Conducted as part of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico, the operation included arrest warrants against two Mexican nationals alleged to be human smugglers.

According to ICE, human smugglers are looking to make profits without any “concern for humanity.”

Smugglers charge vulnerable people a significant amount of money to transport them into the United States, many times in unsafe conditions.

“In some cases, people who are smuggled may become victims of human trafficking or exploitation during their journeys or upon reaching their destination,“ ICE said. ”They may be forced into labor or sex trafficking, or their families may be extorted. They can also be exploited by criminal networks in other ways.”