(The Center Square) – At least two perpetrators of an international smuggling ring have been sentenced for their role in bringing thousands of illegal foreign nationals into south Texas from African, Middle Eastern and Central and South American countries.
The smuggling operation began roughly one week after President Donald Trump lost his reelection bid in November 2020 and continued until March 2023, when perpetrators were arrested.
During the Biden administration, a record number of at least 14 million illegal border crossers were reported throughout the southwest border, with the most in Texas, The Center Square reported. At different stages of the border crises, different areas of the Texas-Mexico border experienced surges. Thousands of foreign nationals crossed the Rio Grande River within a few hours into Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso or in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Democratic mayors in border cities issued disaster declarations, several sued the Biden administration, including Laredo.
Led by coyotes, the foreign nationals crossed the river and were processed by the Biden administration and released into Texas. Or, they evaded capture, trespassed on ranchers’ and farmers’ lands and made their way north into the interior of the state and country.
In response, Gov. Greg Abbott directed Operation Lone Star officers and Texas National Guard troops to block entry and erect marine buoys and concertina wire barriers in heavily trafficked areas. The Biden administration sued Texas and lost in all cases related to Abbott’s border barriers, The Center Square reported.
As OLS and Border Patrol officers made arrests, prosecutions began and are ongoing. The latest to be sentenced in a major international smuggling case is Mexican national Monica Hernandez-Palma in the Western District of Texas. The district has been prosecuting a record number of border crime cases, The Center Square reported.
According to court documents, Hernandez-Palma led an international smuggling operation to illegally bring thousands of foreign nationals into the U.S. through Mexico from Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Columbia, Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador.
The smugglers operated stash houses in Monterrey and Piedras Negras, Mexico, where they held the foreign nationals until coyotes led them across the Rio Grande River into Eagle Pass and near Laredo, Texas, and surrounding areas.
She pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
One of her coconspirators, San Antonio, Texas-based Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last July. He facilitated smuggling operations from South America into Mexico and Texas, including directing operations and paying armed coyotes, load drivers, and stash house operators, according to the complaint.
He said he smuggled between 2,500 to 3,000 people in two years. He also said they charged between $6,500 to $12,000 per person, raking in between $16 million to $30 million, according to court documents.
“Alien Smuggling Organizations do not care about your hopes and dreams; they care only about your money,” U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas said in a statement. “This sentencing represents a major blow to a complex criminal organization that has been successfully dismantled thanks to the work of our AUSAs and law enforcement partners.”
Homeland Security Investigations Del Rio Sector agents led U.S. investigative efforts, working with federal partners. The DOJ worked with Mexican law enforcement to secure Hernandez-Palma’s arrest and extradition.
The investigation and indictment were supported by Joint Task Force Alpha, a multi-agency task force targeting high-impact human smuggling and trafficking operations in Mexico, Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, as well as Canada, the Caribbean and the U.S. maritime border.
Another major smuggling bust led to four leaders being indicted for their role in illegally transporting more than 20,000 Guatemalans into Arizona and California through Mexico, The Center Square reported. It is considered the largest human smuggling operation in U.S. history dismantled by law enforcement.
U.S. attorneys involved in JTFA are from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont.
So far, JTFA’s efforts have led to 455 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of human smuggling and trafficking. They’ve also secured more than 400 U.S. convictions, with more than 350 significant jail sentences imposed, the DOJ said.
