2 indicted for yearslong global human smuggling outfit along AZ-Mexico border

2 indicted for yearslong global human smuggling outfit along AZ-Mexico border




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José Ignacio Castañeda Perez, Arizona Republic
Thu, March 23, 2023 at 9:42 PM EDT



Two people were arrested for their suspected role in a yearslong human smuggling operation that spanned the globe and culminated along the Arizona-Mexico border near Yuma.

Ofelia Hernandez-Salas, 60, and co-conspirator Raul Saucedo-Huipio, 48, were arrested in Mexico at the request of the United States and under previously sealed charges that were filed in Arizona in 2021.

The pair was arrested last week. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials declined to say exactly what day. The motion to unseal their indictment was filed March 17.

The pair is suspected of picking up migrants at a bus station in Mexicali, Baja California, and housing and feeding them before taking them to the nearby U.S.-Mexico border, according to the indictment document.

The pair are suspected of charging migrants tens of thousands of dollars to make the arduous and perilous journey to the U.S.-Mexico border from all over the world. The pair are suspected of oftentimes robbing migrants of their money, cell phones and personal belongings at knife and gunpoint, court documents show.


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Migrants and asylum seekers are detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma County, near the Cocopah Indian Tribe's reservation on Dec. 8, 2022. Border Patrol agents estimated the group to be about 700 people.

The pair are believed to have worked with other smugglers to facilitate the travel of large numbers of migrants from and through Bangladesh, Yemen, Pakistan, Eritrea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico into the United States, court documents say.

“Investigating human smuggling is nothing new for HSI special agents in Arizona, but this case and subsequent arrests abroad stands out as one that was made possible by the unwavering commitment of our law enforcement partners like the U.S. Border Patrol,” Scott Brown, special agent in charge for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Arizona, said in a written statement.

Hernandez-Salas and Saucedo-Huipio were charged with one count of conspiracy to bring an undocumented migrant into the U.S. and 22 counts of bringing an undocumented migrant into the U.S. and aiding and abetting.

“Once again we see that international cooperation is far more important to a border strategy than physical barriers,” Gary Restaino, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, said in a written statement.

“These defendants allegedly conspired to flout America’s immigration laws and to victimize the very migrants they were purporting to help.”


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Migrants and asylum seekers are detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma County, near the Cocopah Indian Tribe's reservation on Dec. 8, 2022. Border Patrol agents estimated the group to be about 700 people.

Migrant smuggling has transformed into a multibillion-dollar enterprise for smugglers and organized crime organizations over the past decade.

'Boom of opportunities':How smugglers, Mexican cartels profit from US border restrictions

U.S. policies and border restrictions, which have forced some asylum-seeking migrants to wait in Mexico for years, have boosted significantly the lucrative profits of cartels and smugglers.

The area near the Morelos Dam near Yuma once was a frequent crossing point for large groups of migrants. Border Patrol agents in December every day saw about 800 people to 1,000 people bypass the end of the border wall and present themselves to seek asylum.

Migrants typically would fly to Mexicali before being taken in a bus or taxi for the hour-long ride and dropped off at the highway within walking distance of the border near Yuma.


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Migrants and asylum seekers are detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma County, near the Cocopah Indian Tribe's reservation on Dec. 8, 2022. Border Patrol agents estimated the group to be about 700 people.

In exchange for their smuggling efforts, Hernandez-Salas and Saucedo-Huipio arranged to be paid on at least four different continents, court documents show. The pair was paid in Mexico, Central America, South America, Asia and Africa among other places, court documents show.

The pair either gave migrants a ladder to climb over the border wall, a plank for them to walk over a waterway or directed them to go through a hole under the wall. The migrants crossed into the U.S. before being apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

The pair began participating in the smuggling organization in January 2019, according to court documents.

AZ smuggling law:New Arizona law makes it easier for law enforcement to go after human smugglers

Interpol Mexico and Baja California state security forces arrested Hernandez-Salas and Saucedo-Huipio. The indictments and arrests against the pair were coordinated under Joint Task Force Alpha, or JTFA, a group focused on dismantling human smuggling networks in Mexico and Central America.

“The indictment and arrests of human smugglers send a stark message that the Department of Justice will not rest until all those who feed on the desperation of others are brought to justice,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the written news release.

HSI's Yuma office is investigating the case with assistance from numerous other federal and international agencies.

Lisa Jennis, assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, is prosecuting the case alongside JTFA co-director James Hepburn and trial attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

Have a news tip or story idea about the border and its communities? Contact the reporter at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or connect with him on Twitter @joseicastaneda.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 2 indicted for global human smuggling outfit at Arizona-Mexico border




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