A Mexican national extradited to the United States from Mexico in 2023 pleaded guilty Wednesday to leading a human smuggling conspiracy operating in Mexicali on the U.S.-Mexico border for several years.
According to court documents, Ofelia Hernandez-Salas, 63, led a human smuggling organization that facilitated the travel of more than 100 migrants into the United States 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.
Hernandez-Salas’ organisation charged the migrants as much as tens of thousands of dollars to make the journey and directed the migrants where to illegally cross the border into the United States, including by providing them with a ladder to climb over the border fence.
Hernandez-Salas and co-conspirators also robbed the migrants of money and personal belongings while armed with guns and knives.
“Hernandez-Salas ran a prolific human smuggling organization that illegally brought migrants from around the world into the United States — charging the migrants thousands of dollars, and often robbing them of additional money and belongings,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Argentieri added, “Such criminal operations not only violate U.S. law, but they also put migrants at great personal and financial risk. The Justice Department, through JTFA, is committed to working with our foreign law enforcement partners in Mexico and elsewhere to disrupt and dismantle dangerous transnational criminal organizations.”
Hernandez-Salas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring an alien to the United States and three substantive counts of bringing an alien to the United States for commercial benefit or private financial gain. She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 10, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
