4 Guatemalan Nationals Indicted & Arrested as Part of Takedown of Deadly Human Smuggling Network

Attorney Kristi Callahan and with me is Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. Also, El Paso HSI Special Agent in Charge Francisco Varola as well as U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz. At this time, I will turn it over to our Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite. Thank you all for joining us here today and Kristi, thank you to you and your office for the tremendous hospitality. It is an honor to be here in San Antonio to highlight our team, our whole-of-government efforts in combating human smuggling and the risk to life that it poses. Again, we are here today to announce the unsealing of an indictment in a case charging four Guatemalan nationals with an international human smuggling conspiracy that caused the death of a young woman, an indigenous Guatemalan migrant. As you will read in the court filings, in the spring of 2021, this young woman died in the course of the dangerous journeys that these defendants and others used to smuggle her and others into the United States. At the outset, let me say that our deepest condolences go out to this young woman's family. Our team has been in contact with her family and they will continue to have our support. Ensuring that victims and their families remain at the center of our practice has been a forefront, a priority for the Criminal Division during my time as the Assistant Attorney General. Now, among those indicted was the alleged leader of this organization, Felipe Diego Alonso, also known as Siete or Seven. This case is the direct result of Attorney General Garland's Human Smuggling and Trafficking Task Force, known as Joint Task Force Alpha, led by prosecutors from the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section, or HRSP, and the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas. Now, in addition to the unsealing of this indictment, I am pleased to report that just a couple days ago, on August 2nd, coordinated domestic and foreign law enforcement efforts over the past year culminated in a massive law enforcement takedown operation in Guatemala. That operation resulted in the arrest of Alonso and his three alleged co-conspirators in this indictment, along with 15 other individuals on an array of foreign criminal charges who are alleged to be a part of this extensive human smuggling network. In addition to those arrests, dozens of search warrants were executed against the smuggling ring by Guatemalan nationals, and substantial assets were seized, including 10 high-valued motor vehicles, firearms, and cash. Now, this latest indictment and historic international arrest operation are the latest example of the efforts undertaken by ALFA since its inception in June of 2021. By combining the efforts and resources of numerous Department of Justice prosecutors and law enforcement officials, particularly Homeland Security Investigation Special Agents from across the country, and indeed across the globe, cases and law enforcement actions like this one highlight the collective resolve and commitment we have to fighting human smuggling. ALFA's dedicated personnel, along with our international law enforcement partners, are working tirelessly to disrupt and dismantle these harmful smuggling and trafficking networks. Joint Task Force ALFA was created to investigate and prosecute the international networks responsible for dangerous and prolific human smuggling activities that exploit and victimize migrants. Again, these indictments demonstrate that the department's commitment is center. We are holding accountable criminal organizations that prey upon vulnerable people for profit. So let me be clear. The message to human smugglers is this. You will be held accountable for your dangerous and often lethal criminality. The combined might of the U.S. law enforcement and our international partners will continue to aggressively target you and your illegal operations for both disruption and dismantlement, both within the United States and south of the border. And we're going to use every tool, every technique, and every resource at our disposal to do so. Now, it is also important that I acknowledge and express my deep appreciation to our key partners in law enforcement that are involved in this and many of other cases. People who have worked on this matter in close coordination with ALFA's criminal division leadership team and our prosecutors throughout this investigation. Again, this has truly been an extraordinary international coordinated effort, led by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. HSI Midland led the U.S. investigation, working in concert with HSI Guatemala and HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. HSI received substantial assistance from ISIS Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Custom and Border Protection's National Targeting Center, including Operation Sentinel, the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Odessa and Midland Police Departments, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Ector, Midland, and Crane County Sheriff's Offices. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The work of the Criminal Division's Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training also deserves special acknowledgement for the support and assistance that they provided in this matter. Their tremendous ongoing efforts at capacity building, not here in the United States, but in Guatemala, has been absolutely critical to laying the groundwork for significant law enforcement actions like the one that we are announcing today, as well as addressing the root causes of much of this criminality. The Department of Justice also wants to express great thanks and deep appreciation for the efforts of Guatemalan law enforcement, who again were instrumental in furthering this investigation and taking their own actions against this network. And then lastly, I want to recognize the team members themselves who handled this case, the prosecutors on this case. They include our Joint Task Force Alpha Deputy Director, Jim Hepburn of our Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section, AUSA's Adrian Gallagos and Jose Luis Acosta of the Western District of Texas, also members of our Task Force Alpha, AUSA John Feddock of the Western District of Texas, and HRSP Historian and Latin American Specialist Joanna Crandall. I know that together, our task force and our dedicated partners will continue to pursue our mission to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling and trafficking networks, including those that pose national security risks, those that have links to transnational organized crime, and most especially those that are abusing, exploiting, or jeopardizing the lives of those being smuggled. It is now my pleasure to turn our podium back over to our Executive U.S. Attorney, Christy Callahan, here in the Western District of Texas. Thank you. Thank you, Assistant Attorney General. The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas is committed to prosecuting human smugglers. As experienced in this district day in and day out, human smugglers represent some of the worst among us. They show a callous disregard for humanity, placing a monetary value on the hopes and dreams of others to feed their own greed. As repeatedly demonstrated, smugglers do not care whether those they conduct business with live or die, only that the smuggler gets paid. We again implore those considering this method of illegal entry to recognize its inherently grave dangers and refuse to risk their lives with those who only consider them a cash commodity. While we make this announcement today from the San Antonio headquarters of the U.S. Attorney's Office, the case will be prosecuted in our Midland Division and is being handled by Joint Task Force Alpha Deputy Director James Hepburn of the Justice Department's Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adrian Gallegos and Jose Luis DaCosta of both the Western District of Texas and Joint Task Force Alpha, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Fettig of the Western District of Texas. The case will be supervised by Midland City Chief Brandi Young, Western District of Texas Chief of our Criminal Division Christina Playton, and Joint Task Force Alpha Director Mike Shuckles. This case is a prime example of the Department of Justice's joint commitment with federal, state, and international law enforcement to bring those who profit over human life to justice. The Western District of Texas is especially thankful for the firm resolve and commitment of Joint Task Force Alpha, HSI, Border Patrol, our international partners who have been instrumental in this case, as well as all of our law enforcement and our prosecutors who work tirelessly day after day to prevent and dismantle the illegal activities of these loathsome criminal enterprises. We will remain relentless in our efforts to end human smuggling. This time, I will turn it over to Francisco Burola. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. My name is Francisco Burola. I'm the Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations, HSI, in El Paso, Texas. HSI plays an integral role in combating human smuggling and human trafficking by working with its law enforcement partners, both foreign and domestic, to deter, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations engaged in human smuggling and trafficking. The case being discussed today is an investigation into the smuggling of non-citizens that resulted in the tragic death of an adult Guatemalan female national in Odessa, Texas, last year. In April of 2021, HSI Midland received information from HSI Guatemala concerning the potential death of a female Guatemalan national in Midland, Odessa area. On May 4, 2021, the Crane County Sheriff's Office located human remains in a rural area and notified HSI Midland. This person was identified and matched that of the information provided by HSI Guatemala. The investigation revealed that the deceased person appeared to be ill or dehydrated and had to be carried into a stash house in Odessa, where she subsequently died. This case was designated as a Joint Task Force Alpha investigation, resulted in numerous search warrants and criminal arrests on federal charges, and the apprehension of dozens of undocumented non-citizens who were smuggled into the United States by a Guatemala-based human smuggling organization. By leveraging HSI's transnational criminal investigative unit in Guatemala and HSI personnel on the ground, HSI identified the leaders of this human smuggling organization both in Odessa and in Guatemala. This case is an example of how streamlining investigations under the JTF Alpha within the United States and with our foreign partners is an effective and efficient way to dismantle transnational criminal organizations that smuggle migrants under dangerous and oftentimes abusive and exploitive conditions. I want to extend our gratitude to the United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas, the Justice Department's Criminal Division, the United States Border Patrol Big Bend Sector, the Government of Guatemala, HSI's transnational criminal investigative unit, the TCIU in Guatemala, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Crane County Sheriff's Office for their extraordinary assistance on this investigation. Thank you, and it's my honor to introduce the Chief of the United States Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz. Thank you, Frank, and good morning. I join our federal partners in thanking all of you for being here. The successful operation highlighted here today is a testament to the federal government's commitment to combating criminal organizations and destabilizing the effects of their actions throughout the western hemisphere. It demonstrates our refusal to accept their presence as a status quo. Through successful collaborative efforts of the multiple agencies involved in this investigation and the Department of Justice's designation of this criminal organization as our priority under Joint Task Force Alpha, multiple human smugglers were indicted. The work conducted by professional law enforcement personnel not only led to the successful capture of these dangerous criminals, but also illuminated a complex criminal network that has facilitated record levels of migration along our southern border. Criminal networks plague migrant countries of origin, regions of transit, communities in the United States, and pose a significant threat to our nation's security. These organizations prey on vulnerable families and children, while at the same time attempt to smuggle dangerous criminals into the United States. Fiscal year to date, U.S. Border Patrol has apprehended 8,300 criminal non-citizens through this year. We've referred 4,200 subjects to our DOJ partners for human smuggling charges. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has committed agents and analysts in various locations along the southwest border in support of Joint Task Force Alpha to work as task force officers with our Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security partners. CBP has also stood up its own complementary effort to combat these organizations, Operation Sentinel. Operation Sentinel resides within CBP's National Targeting Center, and officers, agents, and analysts there provide direct support to this investigation and multiple others. The officers, agents, and analysts working at the National Targeting Center and in the field as task force officers bring analytical skills, vast experience in dealing with illicit smuggling networks, and data exploitation capabilities that are tremendous assets to both CBP and our partner agencies. I am extremely proud of the important work being done by DHS and our partners at the Department of Justice in working to bring law enforcement actions against these dangerous and predatory criminal organizations. The scope and scale of these organizations are vast and require the type of whole-of-government approach that resulted in these indictments. Border Patrol personnel remain committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to bring consequences to any individual who exploits vulnerable populations, violates U.S. law, or poses a threat to the security of the United States. Again, thank you to our partners for their support and collaboration, and I look forward to the future successes we all have together in this crucial fight. Thank you very much for the question. Our Office of International Affairs out of Washington is at the forefront of coordinating that extradition. It would be merely an estimate, but at this date we are expecting four to six months before their arrival here in the United States. It's a significant process that goes into the coordination, and I will just tell you that when they are extradited to the United States, it will represent the first extraditions from Guatemala for human smuggling in some time. Yeah, thank you for the question. You know, when it comes to complex conspiracy investigations, we target every single individual involved, and this investigation, it's ongoing. So, you know, I'm not going to stand here and sit and discuss the complexity and who and what's involved. If any individual was involved in Mexico, they also will be looked for. We will also seek an extradition. We will also bring them to justice. But at this time, I cannot discuss those individuals. If they are in Mexico being associated to this case, we just don't have the opportunity right now to be discussing that piece. The damage that was done to this organization is extreme. It has taken down the top-level members of this human smuggling organization. So, we are moving from there. We could move on to further organizations, all depending on where this investigation takes us. Thank you. I'm extremely excited. This is what we do as a matter of course. We look to take down these criminal organizations, ensure that all people are safe. And so, I'm excited. I'm relieved. But also, there's a great joy with the coordination and the streamlining of all of the departments and the government's measures to ensure that everyone remains safe. At this time, I'm going to have our criminal chief, since she knows the specifics of this exactly, to come up and speak. At this time, the precise number of individuals that were smuggled by this organization is still under investigation. There is no indication at this time that any of the individuals that were smuggled were on any sort of watch list. Does that answer your question fully, Mike? It does, but also— We do not have that information at this time. No. Certainly. And again, I think you may be quoting from my comments. I also would reference the support from our law enforcement agencies, as well as our U.S. attorney's offices. The fact of the matter is that in this, as well as any type of investigation, it's important that we are making sure that victims are at the very center of our work from the very beginning. That means ensuring that they have the resources, whether it is mental health treatment, for example. It means that they are having the support from our offices as we're engaging with them as potential witnesses in our investigations. Even after the case is actually brought, and even after the culmination, it's important for us to continue to follow that family to ensure that it is helping them reclaim their lives and overcoming this tragedy. I'm not in a position to share details about this particular case, but yes, to answer your question, that is the type of example of resource that we can also make available to families in these types of circumstances. Yeah. Almost all of our prosecutions require coordination with our U.S. attorney's offices. Across the southwest border, we have referred both felony 1324, which is alien smuggling charges, to the Department of Justice in the neighborhood of 4,700. With respect to criminal prosecutions, those numbers continue to be much higher than we've seen in the past. Our agents continue to file reentry cases as well as 1324 cases, and then assaults on federal officer cases. All of those are being handled by our Department of Justice partners. Across the border, along the southwest border, we've seen over 1.8 million apprehensions along the southwest border, and every sector along the southwest border continues to see some higher numbers than we've experienced in the past. I will tell you that the conditions on the border continue to improve. We've seen a 5% reduction over the last 60 days in both encounters and apprehensions and gotaways. And so, when you think about this particular case and the fact that we've already encountered 250,000 Guatemala nationals along the southwest border, and you think about its impact, us being able to prosecute folks in Guatemala for actions that are happening here in the U.S. is an important step to closing that gap and making sure that these criminal organizations aren't able to run around without impunity. So, I do think it's impactful, but I do think we are starting to see a turn in the border security mission, and we're starting to see that more agents, more officers, more law enforcement are focused on this human trafficking and human smuggling effort that's occurring across the entire southwest border. So, obviously, the Border Patrol has seen some tremendous increase specifically in Del Rio, which is in this district. Yuma, Arizona has also seen some increases as well as South Texas. For us, you know, what we want to be able to do is focus on both national security and that border security mission, but recognizing we also have to address this human humanitarian plight that's occurring, and that's where a big portion of the nationals that are turning themselves in, in Eagle Pass, Texas, and some of those areas where we find our agents spend an awful lot of their time, and they're taken away from that traditional border security mission set. But our number one priority is to get more agents back out in the field, and we're able to do that because we're becoming more efficient in our ability to process these humanitarian migrants, and that allows us to focus on that national security mission. Thank you.