Guatemalan national charged with leading one of the biggest human smuggling rings in the US

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A recently arrested Guatemalan man has been charged with leading one of the largest human smuggling operations in the U.S., responsible for bringing in roughly 20,000 undocumented immigrants from Guatemala during the last five years.

Federal prosecutors say some of the immigrants were held hostage in stash houses and that one attempt to transport them led to a horrific car crash in 2023 in Oklahoma that killed seven migrants, including three minors, one of whom was 4 years old.

The 51-year-old Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, otherwise known as “Turko,” was arrested on Friday morning along with his right-hand man, 49-year-old Cristobal Mejia-Chaj. They were charged with one count of conspiracy to bring aliens into the U.S., one count of transporting aliens in the U.S., one count of harboring aliens in the U.S. for private financial gain and resulting in death, and two counts of hostage taking.

“These smuggling organizations have no regard for human life and their conduct kills,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally in a written statement. “The indictment and arrests here have dismantled one of the country’s largest and most dangerous smuggling organizations.”

According to federal prosecutors, Renoj-Matul, who lived in the Westlake neighborhood in Los Angeles, headed a transnational organization for at least a dozen years.

According to the indictment, Renoj-Matul worked with associates in Guatemala, who charged between $15,000 and $18,000 to coordinate the long journey from the Central American country to the U.S. Immigrants were often taken to a stash house until the fee was paid in full.

“If an illegal alien’s smuggling fees were not paid,” prosecutors say in their indictment, Renoj-Matul and his minions “would hold that illegal alien against their will… until their fee was paid.”

In April 2024, according to the indictment, someone “reneged” on a promised payment for one woman that had already been smuggled into the U.S. by Renoj-Matul’s organization. Renoj-Matul then called her mother and threatened that she “‘would come home in a box’ if her smuggling fees were not paid,” according to the indictment.

If convicted of all charges, Renoj-Matul and his associate would face a statutory maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment.

Also charged in the indictment are 41-year-old Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, aka “Xavi,” who is now a fugitive, and 44-year-old Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj, a driver for the smuggling operation. He is currently in jail in Oklahoma in connection with the 2023 car crash that killed seven. Two other associates of Renoj-Matul are also in custody: 39-year-old Rolando Gomez-Gomez, also known as “Chaka,” has been charged with one count of being an illegal alien found in the United States following removal, and 41-year-old Juan Lopez Garcia, otherwise known as “Boxer,” was arrested on a civil removal matter.

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