Alleged massive human smuggling operation dismantled in Southern California

Yahoo

03-03-2025

Federal law enforcement officials have announced the arrests of the leaders of an alleged smuggling ring believed to have transported more than 20,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Guatemala, holding some of them hostage for months, authorities said.
Federal agents arrested two of the suspects Friday while carrying out search warrants in Los Angeles' Westlake District, according to Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California Joseph T. McNally.
They were identified as Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, also known as "Turko," 51, who is accused of leading the criminal enterprise, as well as Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, 49, who Department of Justice officials described in a statement as Renoj-Matul's "right-hand man."
A third defendant in the case, 44-year-old Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj, 44, was already in custody in Oklahoma awaiting trial in connection with a deadly vehicle crash that claimed the lives of seven people he had allegedly been smuggling, including three children, in November of 2023, officials said.
The fourth suspect, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, 41, remained a fugitive, according to McNally. He's additionally accused of calling a federal agent and threatening to cut off the heads of both the agent and the agent's family after a search of Obispo-Hernandez's home on Friday.
"These smuggling organizations have no regard for human life and their conduct kills. Their members pose a danger to the public and law enforcement," McNally said. "We must vigorously enforce our immigration laws so that these organizations cannot operate. The indictment and arrests here have dismantled one of the country's largest and most dangerous smuggling organizations. This work saves lives, and the members of the organization will now face significant consequences."
All four defendants were Guatemalan nationals living illegally in the U.S., prosecutors said.
They were each charged with conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, transporting aliens in the United States and harboring aliens in the United States for private financial gain and resulting in death, according to the DOJ.
Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj also each face two counts of hostage taking and one count of transporting aliens in the United States for private financial gain and resulting in death.
If convicted as charged, all the defendants could be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Evidence seized during the investigation revealed the operation had smuggled an estimated 20,800 people into the U.S. over the past five years, McNally said. He described the group as "one of the largest human smuggling rings in the nation."
The organization would charge immigrants between $15,000 and $18,000 each for the trip, he said. They generally traveled through Mexico and into Phoenix, then on to Los Angeles and other "stash houses" throughout the U.S.
"If the fees were not paid, they were held hostage, often for months at the time," McNally said. The smugglers would also threaten violence against the migrants and their families.
Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Angebrandt said the smuggling operation posed a serious danger to both the nation and the migrants, themselves, adding that many are "just looking for a better life."
"The illegal activity not only threatens the lives of those being smuggled, but also our national security and safety," just looking for a better life," he said.
Law enforcement officials first came across the suspected smuggling operation in 2021, noticing a trend of large groups of undocumented immigrants from Guatemala being smuggled along the 10 Freeway between Arizona and Southern California, according to United States Border Patrol's El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino.
The large amounts of migrants and cash found during the busts led authorities to realize that "this was a complex, coast-to-coast smuggling organization," he said.
"In the ensuing years, a lot of good work was accomplished," Bovino said.
"This organization was dismantled, top to bottom, this past Friday. That's what we're after here. One of the most complex, far-reaching smuggling operations is now out of business," he said.
There was more to come, Bovino added.
"We're turning and burning onto that next target," he said. "As soon as we leave this conference room, we're on to the next one."
Two other Los Angeles men not charged in the federal complaint, but accused of serving as "lieutenants" in the smuggling ring, were also arrested Friday on unrelated charges, according to the DOJ.
Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj pleaded not guilty to their charges Friday and were ordered held without bond, officials said. A trial was scheduled for April 22 in federal court in Los Angeles.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Alleged massive human smuggling ring dismantled in Southern California