BOOM! Trump DOJ Delivers Crippling Blow To Suspected Illegal Alien Smuggling Ring

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From the Daily Caller: 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.

 

A press release from the Justice Department includes the following:

LOS ANGELES – An illegal immigrant from Guatemala has been arrested on a four-count indictment alleging he led one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the United States, a ring that smuggled approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants from Guatemala to destinations nationwide over a five-year span, holding some of them hostage in stash houses and ultimately resulting in the deaths of seven illegal immigrants – including a 4-year-old child – who were killed in a November 2023 car accident in Oklahoma, the Justice Department announced today.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 51, a.k.a. “Turko,” of the Westlake neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles, was arrested Friday morning along with his alleged right-hand man, Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, 49, also of the Westlake neighborhood. These defendants were arraigned Friday and ordered to stand trial on April 22. A federal magistrate judge also ordered them jailed without bond.

Renoj-Matul allegedly led one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the United States, moving approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants from 2019 through July 2024.

Also charged in the indictment are Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, 41, a.k.a. “Xavi,” a lieutenant in the criminal organization who is a fugitive, and Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj, 44, a driver for the smuggling organization who is incarcerated in Oklahoma in connection with the fatal November 2023 car accident.

All the defendants are Guatemalan nationals who are or were illegally living in the United States at the time of the alleged offenses.

All four defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, transporting aliens in the United States, and harboring aliens in the United States for private financial gain and resulting in death.

Additionally, Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj are charged with two counts of hostage taking. Obispo-Hernandez and Paxtor-Oxlaj also are charged with one count of transporting aliens in the United States for private financial gain and resulting in death.

A separate federal criminal complaint filed March 2 charges Obispo-Hernandez with threatening to cut off the heads of a Homeland Security Investigations Task Force Officer and members of his family. The threats were allegedly made Friday to the federal law enforcement office in the wake of search warrants being executed at Obispo-Hernandez’s residence.

According to the indictment returned on Tuesday and unsealed Friday, the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization operated for at least a dozen years and specialized in the smuggling of illegal immigrants from Guatemala to the United States, the transportation and movement of those illegal immigrants within the United States – especially between Phoenix and Los Angeles – and the harboring, concealing, and shielding of illegal immigrants within the United States.

Renoj-Matual was assisted by associates in Guatemala who solicited illegal immigrants to come to the United States, accepted payment of between $15,000 and $18,000 for each illegal immigrant smuggled into the United States, and coordinated the journey of the illegal immigrants from Guatemala to the United States.

Mexican smuggling organizations transported the immigrants through Mexico and across the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, where they were held them in stash houses and eventually picked up by Renoj-Matul’s lieutenants. The illegal immigrants then – for an additional fee – were transported and moved to various destinations in the United States, including Los Angeles. The immigrants who had not paid their fees were held hostage in a stash house in the Westlake neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles.

Renoj-Matul directed that the transportation of proceeds from human smuggling be transported from Los Angeles to Phoenix, where they were given to the Mexican smuggling organization to pay the expenses incurred by Renoj-Matul’s transnational criminal organization.

In November 2023, Paxtor-Oxlaj caused a car accident in Elk City, Oklahoma, while he was smuggling illegal immigrants from New York to Los Angeles. That car accident resulted in the deaths of seven people who were passengers in the vehicle he drove. Of the seven people killed, three were minors, including a 4-year-old child.

Paxtor-Oxlaj was arrested in connection with the accident and was charged in the Western District of Oklahoma with being an illegal alien found in the United States following removal. He previously had been removed from the U.S. to Guatemala in 2010 and did not have legal permission to re-enter the United States.

The indictment further alleges that, from April 2024 to July 2024, Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj held hostage two victims – Guatemalan nationals smuggled into the United States – who had not paid smuggling fees. The defendants allegedly threatened to kill the victims until third parties paid for their release.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment.

Also arrested Friday was Rolando Gomez-Gomez, a.k.a. “Chaka,” 39 of South Los Angeles, who is charged with one count of being an illegal alien found in the United States following removal, and Juan Lopez Garcia, a.k.a. “Boxer,” 41 of Downtown Los Angeles, who was arrested on a civil removal matter. Both defendants are alleged lieutenants in the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization.

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