Federal law enforcement arrested the alleged leaders of one of the largest migrant smuggling operations in the U.S., notching another win in the Trump administration’s war against illegal immigration.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday announced the arrest and indictment of Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, accused of leading the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization, his alleged “right-hand man” Cristobal Mejia-Chaj and other defendants. Together, the defendants led what prosecutors are describing as one of the biggest human smuggling rings in the country, sneaking in roughly 20,000 illegal migrants from 2019 to July 2024.
Both Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj are Guatemalan citizens living illegally in the U.S, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The two men were arrested Friday in the Los Angeles area, where their operation was largely based.
The international operation was incredibly intricate, with associates in Guatemala soliciting smuggling services and accepting payments between $15,000 and $18,00 for each illegal migrant. Mexican smuggling organizations would then transport these illegal migrants across their country and through the U.S.-Mexico border, where Renoj-Matul’s lieutenants would allegedly be in charge of transporting various illegal migrants and hiding them in stash houses across the U.S.
“The transnational criminal organization operated for at least a dozen years and specialized in smuggling illegal immigrants from Guatemala to the United States,
acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally stated during a Monday press briefing, who described how ruthless this particular smuggling ring behaved with both clients and law enforcement. “Those who did not pay their fees were held hostage, including at a stash house here in the West Lake District of Los Angeles.”
The smuggling operation even led to the death of several individuals, according to McNally. While transporting illegal migrants on the road in November 2023, a defendant allegedly caused a car crash in Elk City, Oklahoma, resulting in seven deaths, including a four-year-old.
One fugitive allegedly involved with the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, threatened to kill a federal law enforcement officer, according to McNally. While search warrants were being executed Friday in Los Angeles, Obispo-Hernandez phoned a member of the investigative team and threatened to kill an agent and his family by cutting off their heads.
“The actions of this human smuggling organization demonstrates a complete disregard for the nation’s immigration laws,” the acting U.S. attorney said. Each defendant faces the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty.
The major bust marks the latest win in the Trump administration’s quest to dismantle illegal immigration, a phenomenon largely fueled by migrant smugglers who profit millions from the industry. Since President Donald Trump re-entered office, migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico have plummeted to levels not witnessed in decades.
Migrant crossings along the Darien Gap, a vast jungle region between Colombia and Panama utilized by migrants heading northward to the U.S., dropped more than 90% in January compared to the same month last year. Trump announced that there were a mere 8,326 migrant apprehensions at the southern border during his first full month office — a monthly total dwarfed by the roughly 12,600 unlawful border crossings in one single day in December 2023 under President Joe Biden.
A number of migrants have expressed regret at trying to reach the border under Trump’s watch, and Latin American officials are now observing a reverse migratory trend where many migrants are heading southward.
Border Patrol provided roughly 50 agents on Friday for the takedown of the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization, Gregory K. Bovino, chief patrol agent of agency’s El Centro Sector, said during the press conference. The Border Patrol agents hailed from numerous sectors of the agency, including the San Diego, Yuma and El Centro sectors and members of the elite Border Patrol Tactical Unit.
“Border security is created. It doesn’t just happen,” Bovino stated. “It’s created through innovation, foreign thinking and moving the ball down the field.”
“This [transnational criminal organization] was destroyed, dismantled top to bottom this past Friday, and that’s what we’re after here,” Bovino continued.
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