Mexicans Plead Guilty to International Conspiracy to Smuggle Illegal Immigrants From Canada Into US

Three Mexican illegal immigrants pleaded guilty on Monday to unlawfully bringing foreign nationals from Mexico, Central America, and South America into the United States through America’s northern border with Canada.

The individuals, Ignacio Diaz-Perez, 37, Samuel Diaz-Perez, 27, and Salvador Diaz-Diaz, 34, are part of an international alien smuggling organization that brought hundreds of illegal immigrants into the country, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a July 20 statement.

Once the foreigners crossed the border, the organization hired drivers to pick these people up and transport them deeper into the country. The defendants in the case took part in and coordinated the smuggling activities with other organization leaders.

The three individuals pleaded to multiple counts of smuggling illegal immigrants for financial gain and one count each of conspiracy to commit illegal immigrant smuggling. If convicted, they face a minimum prison term of five years, which can go up to a maximum of 15 years. Their sentencing is due on Nov. 23.

The Justice Department highlighted a smuggling incident involving the defendants from May 2023.

At the time, Border Patrol agents had to engage in a high-speed chase targeting a van carrying multiple illegal immigrants. However, the agents had to stop the pursuit due to risks it posed to the public. Local authorities then used a tire deflation device to stop the van.

“Human smuggling threatens our national security in multiple ways, including the risks to public safety that take place when alien smugglers further ignore our laws and lead agents on dangerous high-speed pursuits,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the statement.

“These defendants undermined the integrity of our border, disobeyed our traffic and public safety laws, and put ordinary citizens at risk. In short, for their own greed, they jeopardized the safety of the public and the illegal aliens they were smuggling. They will now answer for these offenses.”

According to the DOJ, the investigation is being supported by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) launched during the Biden administration to stop human smuggling.

JTFA initially focused on combating human smuggling and trafficking in Central America. In September last year, the DOJ announced that JTFA was expanded to districts along the northern and maritime borders to further dismantle transnational criminal organizations and cartels.

In its latest statement, the DOJ said that JTFA’s work has, to date, led to the arrests of more than 465 domestic and international leaders, facilitators, and organizers of human smuggling and trafficking. More than 419 individuals have been convicted and over 363 significant jail sentences have been imposed.

In another case prosecuted by JTFA, a Bangladeshi national appeared in a Texas court last week to face charges for his role in a transnational criminal human smuggling operation. The individual was extradited from Brazil on July 8.

On July 15, the DOJ announced that nine criminal illegal immigrants from Venezuela pleaded guilty to human trafficking, human smuggling, and money laundering charges related to a sex trafficking operation that ran in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Trump administration has prioritized action against human smugglers from the first day of its current term. On Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order—Protecting the American People Against Invasion.

In the order, Trump called for establishing Homeland Security Task Forces in all states across the United States. One of the objectives of the task force is to “end the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking, with a particular focus on such offenses involving children.”

Last week, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) introduced the Harry Reid Immigration Stabilization Act, which contains a provision targeting human smuggling activities, according to a July 15 statement from the lawmaker’s office.

The bill seeks to treat illegal immigrant smuggling as an offense under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and raises penalties for such crimes.

It requires the United States to work with foreign governments to stop illegal entries by land, sea, and air. The legislation directs the U.S. Coast Guard to intercept and deter human smuggling vessels at sea.