EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The federal government has unsealed an indictment against leaders of a criminal group that procured false documents for foreign nationals headed to the United States and is suspected of having “lost” 40 migrants at sea.
The accused leaders of La Agencia (The Agency) include Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, aka “Patron,” and his alleged logistics coordinator Luis Enrique Linero Pinto. They were arrested in Colombia at the request of the U.S. government on Dec. 13.
The indictment that led to their arrest was unsealed on Monday in U.S. District Court. A federal grand jury charged Rivera and Linero with conspiracy to induce an alien to enter the United States while placing lives in jeopardy. That’s a felony carrying a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
“The defendants are charged for their roles in the disappearance of dozens of migrants and the allegations detail many of the dangers we see too often in combating human smuggling, from bribery to the deadly risks migrants take every day,” said Jaime Esparza, the El Paso-based U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
All five U.S. Attorneys in the Southwest border collaborated in the investigation as part of Joint Task Force Alpha, a collaborative of Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security agencies combatting human smuggling organizations.
The indictment alleges Rivera and Linero facilitated travel for individuals seeking to illegally enter the United States. They allegedly did so by expediting false documents in Colombia and transporting them to the Colombian island of San Andres. La Agencia allegedly fabricated not only identity documents but also false social profiles, public school and property ownership documents for the migrants, according to South American prosecutors.
The group also allegedly bribed members of the Colombian Navy and the Colombian immigration agency to allow the passage of boats carrying migrants from San Andres to Nicaragua and onward to Central America and Mexico.
On Oct. 21, 2023, one of those ships disappeared at sea while carrying 40 migrants and two boat captains.
Colombian authorities have been on to the group for more than a year announced several arrests on Dec. 3, 2023. According to South American news media, the detainees included three women tasked with recruiting migrants, two who ran social media accounts promoting “trips” to the U.S. and Australia, four to seek out clients in Venezuela, one immigration official who stamped visas for Ecuadorians no questions asked, and four naval officers who provided the criminals the location of patrol vessels and a “heads up” whenever the Navy conducted special patrol operations.
Joint Task Force Alpha primarily tracks smuggling organizations in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Last June, it expanded its scope to Panama and Colombia due to ramped up organized human smuggling activity in the Darien Gap.
“The indictment reflects the importance of JTFA’s expansion to address human smuggling through Colombia,” said Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division. “Today’s announcement also underscores (our) commitment to investigating and prosecuting transnational criminal organizations whose business model puts human lives at risk for financial gain.”
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