The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Sept. 4 that it charged 12 people in an alleged international conspiracy involving human smuggling, asylum fraud, and money laundering schemes that brought thousands of illegal immigrants into the United States for profit.
During a press briefing in Tampa, Florida, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials credited Joint Task Force Alpha for the enforcement action. The task force was created in 2021 to investigate and prosecute groups perpetrating human trafficking.
It is aimed at smuggling operations that are known to exploit and abuse migrants attempting to enter the United States.
“This Department of Justice is investigating and prosecuting human smuggling more aggressively than ever before, and Joint Task Force Alpha is the tip of the spear,” Bondi said. “We will not rest until those who profit from the suffering of vulnerable people—including many unaccompanied children—face severe, comprehensive justice.”
Those charged include five people from Tampa, Florida: Yuniel Lima-Santos, 30; Miguel Alejandro Martinez Vasconcelos, 30; Luis Emmanuel Escalona-Marrero, 31; Layra Libertad Treto Santos, 31; and Gisleivy Peralta Consuegra, 40, according to the DOJ.
Also charged, according to the DOJ, are Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez, 27, of Hialeah, Florida, who is accused of unlawfully residing in the United States; Erik Ventura-Castro, 23, of Hialeah, Florida; Liannys Yaiselys Vega-Perez, 26, who is accused of unlawfully residing in Lebanon, Tennessee; Marianny Lucia Lopez-Torres, 25, of Cuba and formerly of Hialeah, Florida; Frandy Aragon-Diaz, 33, of Cuba, who is accused of formerly unlawfully residing in Tampa, Florida; Walbis Pozo-Dutel, 30, of Katy, Texas; and Emanuel Martinez Gonzalez, 28, who is accused of unlawfully residing in Hialeah, Florida.
All defendants except Consuegra are charged with conspiracy to commit illegal immigrant smuggling for financial gain. Lima-Santos and Aragon-Diaz are also charged with illegal immigrant smuggling for financial gain.
Lima-Santos, Vega-Perez, Aragon-Diaz, Treto Santos, and Consuerga are charged with conspiracy to commit asylum fraud.
Cabrera-Rodriguez, Lima-Santos, Vega-Perez, Aragon-Diaz, Ventura-Castro, Vasconcelos, Escalona-Marrero, and Treto Santos are charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
The Epoch Times reached out to the attorneys listed for the defendants but did not receive a response by publication time.
Prosecutors said that defendants charged clients between $1,500 and $40,000, sometimes chartering private planes to move groups of illegal immigrants.
The DOJ said the alleged smuggling operation promoted its services on social media and encrypted messaging platforms.
“Records show they spent over $2.5 million on flights alone and funneled more than $7 million through payment apps such as Zelle. Based on a financial analysis conducted of 27 known accounts associated with the defendants and their co-conspirators, the alien smuggling organization took in over $18 million during the course of the conspiracy,” the DOJ said.
Bondi thanked the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem for partnering with the Justice Department and the task force, which she said is expanding to include other agencies.
“Our incredible partner again at DHS, Kristi Noem, and I are expanding this to include our DEA, ATF, and FBI agents to this task force to give us even more manpower,” Bondi said.
“Let me be clear: If you smuggle human beings, you will be found, you will be prosecuted, and you will be brought to justice.”
Joint Task Force Alpha, which has brought hundreds of cases since its creation, is now targeting the northern border by having prosecutors from the DOJ’s criminal division work with U.S. attorneys’ offices in Vermont and the Northern District of New York to investigate and bring cases, officials said.
“They exploit those people who are desperate and misguided enough to try to enter the country illegally,” Michael Drescher, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Vermont, said during the press briefing. “On the northern border, such illegal crossings frequently involve trekking through forests and swamps in inhospitable and dangerous circumstances.”