U.S., Mexican authorities bust immigrant smuggling group

Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero coordinated with the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday in an operation to dismantle a prolific migrant smuggling group operating from the Mexican side of the U.S. southern border. Authorities executed warrants on two alleged smugglers who will be tried in Mexico with evidence from U.S. officials, according to a Thursday release from the Department of Justice.

What kind of smuggling operation was it? The group, mostly former or current cartel members, smuggled large numbers of people from Central America into El Paso, Texas, according to the DOJ. Mexican nationals ran the operation. The DOJ alleged that the group had been known to kidnap migrants seeking illegal entry and extort their family members during the journey.

Attorney General Pam Bondi specifically authorized the joint task force responsible for fighting Central and South American smuggling groups to ramp up operations, said Antoinette T. Bacon, supervisory official of the Justice Department’s criminal division. Joint Task Force Alpha coordinates operations and resources between U.S. and Mexican departments to dismantle smuggling and trafficking networks that exploit migrants and pose national security threats, the DOJ explained. The task force has conducted over 350 arrests relating to human smuggling and over 300 convictions in the United States, according to the DOJ.

Dig deeper: Listen to a report by Anna Johansen Brown and Addie Offereins on The World and Everything in It about asylum seekers facing difficult choices at the border under the Trump administration.