Leaders of Major Human Smuggling Network Arrested in Los Angeles

The operation smuggled 20,000 migrants from Guatemala into the U.S., with suspects facing life sentences or the death penalty.

Federal authorities arrested Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul and Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, leaders of a smuggling ring accused of bringing 20,000 migrants into the U.S. since 2019.
The organization charged migrants $15,000 to $18,000 for passage and allegedly detained those unable to pay in stash houses in Phoenix and Los Angeles.
The group is linked to seven deaths, including a 4-year-old child, and some migrants were threatened with violence or harm to family members if fees were unpaid.
A third suspect, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, remains at large and is accused of threatening a Homeland Security agent and their family.
The accused face charges including conspiracy, hostage-taking, and transporting migrants resulting in death, with potential penalties of life imprisonment or the death sentence.