Rapidfeed
Mar 24, 2026

DOJ Indicts 14 Members Of ‘Extensive’ Migrant Smuggling Operation

The Justice Department announced that it has charged 14 members of an “extensive alien smuggling organization,” while eight other people were also arrested for smuggling hundreds of illegal migrants into the U.S.

A grand jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico, returned an indictment against 14 individuals for conspiracy to transport, harbor, and bring illegal aliens into the United States. According to a DOJ press release, eight of those charged were arrested.


The Justice Department announced that it has charged 14 members of an “extensive alien smuggling organization,” while eight other people were also arrested for smuggling hundreds of illegal migrants into the U.S.

A grand jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico, returned an indictment against 14 individuals for conspiracy to transport, harbor, and bring illegal aliens into the United States. According to a DOJ press release, eight of those charged were arrested.“Today’s indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle aliens into and throughout the United States at great danger to the aliens, resulting in the death of one person,” said Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.“The Justice Department worked with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to dismantle an alien smuggling organization based in Mexico that has allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal aliens, including unaccompanied children, through New Mexico and South Texas,” Bacon continued.“We are committed to eliminating transnational alien smuggling organizations that exploit migrants purely for profit and undermine our national security.”

According to the indictment, the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to unlawfully bring undocumented individuals from Mexico into the United States via the southern border. The indictment claims that the defendants also facilitated the transportation of these individuals within the U.S. and concealed them in “stash houses” along the route, said the press release.


In some instances, the defendants allegedly evaded law enforcement by driving at high speeds and advising the undocumented individuals on how to flee from U.S. Border Patrol and bypass checkpoints. The indictment further alleges that one undocumented individual died from heat exposure during a smuggling attempt and was abandoned in the desert, the DOJ added.“Human smuggling organizations threaten our national security and exploit vulnerable individuals for profit, putting their lives at risk and undermining public safety,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin for the District of New Mexico.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of New Mexico is committed to continuing to work with our federal, state and local partners to dismantle transnational human smuggling organizations, hold their leaders accountable, and seize the illicit proceeds generated by these exploitative enterprises,” Kastrin continued.The arrests come following a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump ordering reversals of nearly all of the Biden-Harris immigration and border policies that essentially created an “open border” situation for most of their four-year term.

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