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Border Report – ‘Chino’ smuggled thousands from Middle East through South Texas

Posted on July 10, 2025

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A San Antonio man who admitted to smuggling up to 3,000 migrants from Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries into the United States will spend the next 10 years in a federal prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses on Wednesday sentenced Enil Edil Mejia Zuniga, 34, for his leadership role in a conspiracy spanning three continents. Mejia, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras also known as “Chino,” allegedly worked with a Pakistani smuggler based in Brazil who contracted clients in South America, Central and South Asia and facilitated travel to Eagle Pass, Texas.


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The Brazil-based organization charged migrants between $6,500 and $12,000 for the travel, and Mejia would get about $3,000 for every client that reached Eagle Pass and an additional $3,000 for each one that made it to San Antonio, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Mejia paid “coyotes,” or foot guides, stash house caretakers and drivers to bring the migrants to San Antonio, federal officials said.


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The so-called Mejia-Zuniga Alien Smuggling Organization allegedly also supervised homes in Monterrey and Piedras Negras, Mexico, where migrants were kept prior to attempting an illegal entry into the U.S.

An alleged migrant smuggler displays hundred-dollar bills spread over the floor of his residence. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)

Court records show Mejia entered into a plea agreement in 2023 in view of witness testimonies, wire transfer records, client ledgers and photographs gathered by prosecutors.


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Some photographs show him smiling while holding high-power weapons and laying out hundred-dollar bills on the floor. One photograph shows one of his alleged foot-guides holding a rifle in the brush.

“In an effort to satisfy his greed, Mejia Zuniga facilitated the illegal movement of thousands of Middle Easterners into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Justin R. Simmons. “His actions put our national security at risk. However, thanks to our many federal law enforcement partners, Mejia-Zuniga will no longer be allowed to enrich himself to the detriment of this country.”


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In addition to prison time, the judge sentenced Mejia to three years of supervised release and fined him $4,500.

A migrant ‘foot guide’ or smuggler holds a rifle in the brush in Mexico. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)

Co-defendants Monica Hernandez Palma, 33, of Mexico, and Allyson Elsires Alvarez Zuniga, 26, of Honduras, entered guilty pleas on April 7, 2025, and Aug. 21, 2023, respectively, and are awaiting sentencing. Co-defendant Genyi Arguenta Flores, 32, of Comayagua, Honduras was sentenced to five years in prison on May 12.

Another co-defendant is in custody in Mexico pending an extradition request from the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.


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“For more than three years, these individuals operated a transnational smuggling ring driven by greed, moving illegal aliens from 11 countries in blatant disregard of the law,” said Craig Larrabee, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio. “Human smuggling undermines the security of our borders and disrupts lawful immigration processes. HSI will continue to work tirelessly to protect our national security.”

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