SAN DIEGO—A man accused of leading a Tijuana-based human smuggling organization responsible for bringing thousands of migrants into the United States through Mexico was arrested and charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed this week.
Abdul Karim Conteh, 42, of Sierra Leone, is accused of running a group that smuggled migrants from various countries, some of whom paid tens of thousands of dollars to be brought in.
The indictment states the smuggled migrants hailed from numerous countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Somalia, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
Migrants were often transported through South and Central America on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border and once at the border, the indictment states Mr. Conteh “oversaw and assisted with their surreptitious and unlawful entry into the United States by various means, including the use of ladders and tunnels.”
Mr. Conteh was arrested in Tijuana last Thursday and U.S. authorities are seeking his extradition to San Diego.
“This arrest unravels a global web of coordinated human smuggling into the United States,” San Diego U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement.
Mr. Conteh’s wife, Veronica Roblero Pivaral, 25, of Mexico, is also charged in the indictment. She remains at large.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, which imposed financial sanctions on the smuggling organization, Ms. Roblero Pivaral “plays a variety of critical roles in the organization, ranging from driving migrants to the U.S. border to receiving payments for smuggling operations.”
Mr. Conteh, his wife and others whose names are redacted in the indictment are charged with conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the United States. Mr. Conteh is also charged with unlawful smuggling of migrants for financial gain.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “In coordination with our law enforcement partners, the Justice Department has worked relentlessly to target and disrupt the unlawful, transnational human smuggling operations that endanger migrants and threaten our national security. We allege Abdul Karim Conteh and his organization smuggled thousands of migrants from more than a dozen different countries through Mexico into the United States. He has been arrested for his alleged role in this prolific, exploitive smuggling operation by Mexican authorities, and the Justice Department will ensure that he is held accountable in an American courtroom.”
