Federal authorities on Thursday announced the takedown of a Guatemalan smuggling ring they said is responsible for “large numbers” of illegal immigrants making their way to the U.S. — and was involved in the death of one migrant woman in Texas last year.
Guatemalan police nabbed 19 people in the operation, including four who have been charged in U.S. courts.
Federal prosecutors say those four were involved in smuggling a woman last year, charging her nearly $10,000 for the journey from Guatemala and, after she died during the trip, dumping her body on the side of a Texas road.
U.S. officials said the arrests in Guatemala decapitated the smuggling operation.
“It has taken down the top levels of this organization,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr.
Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz also said they are seeing a turning point at the border, where illegal activity remains high but has come down from record levels this spring.
He said they’ve seen a 5% drop in encounters with illegal immigrants and in “gotaways,” or those who made it by agents, over the past 60 days.
“We are starting to see a turn in the border security mission,” he said.
Testifying on Capitol Hill on Thursday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the border poses a “significant security issue,” challenging claims by Homeland Security that the border is “secure.”
“To me, it represents a significant security issue and represents a wide array of criminal threats that flow out of it,” he said.
Chief among those threats are the smuggling organizations that control the flow of people and goods across the boundary, and the ones that recruit and shepherd migrants on the journey north.
U.S. officials said the organization targeted in this week’s operation charged $10,000 to $12,000 for the trip from Guatemala.
That’s about the current going rate for Central American migrants. Those from Mexico typically pay a couple of thousand dollars less to cross the land border illegally, while those from South America or further afield can pay much more.
Authorities said during this week’s arrests in Guatemala that police seized firearms, money and 10 “high valued motor vehicles.”
Prosecutors said they are seeking the extradition of the four men involved in the migrant woman’s death: Felipe Diego Alonzo, 38; Nesly Norberto Martinez Gomez, 37; Lopez Mateo Mateo, 42; and Juan Gutierrez Castro, 45.
Mr. Polite said it was important for the U.S. to show it could reach smuggling organizations overseas.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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