The debate over America’s southern border often gets reduced to political talking points: The Left cries about “kids in cages,” and the Right demands action on the southern border crisis.
This from thepatriotjournal.com.
Meanwhile, shadowy criminal networks operate in the spaces between headlines. And they are growing rich off human misery.
These smuggling networks promise the American Dream but deliver nightmares instead.
While politicians argue over terminology, real people—including children—pay the ultimate price for our nation’s failure to secure our borders.
Federal authorities in Los Angeles just delivered a major blow against one of these criminal networks. Two individuals accused of leading a massive human smuggling operation have been taken into custody.
The organization allegedly brought approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants into the United States since 2019.
Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, identified as the ringleader, and his top associate Cristobal Mejia-Chaj were arrested Friday and are being held without bail. Prosecutors say the group charged migrants from Guatemala between $15,000 and $18,000 for passage to America.
From The Post Millennial:
Court documents allege that Renoj-Matul once contacted a migrant’s mother and threatened that her daughter ‘would come home in a box’ if smuggling fees were not paid.
NOTE: The operation was not just about moving people across borders. It was a full-service criminal enterprise. Migrants were kept in stash houses in Phoenix and Los Angeles until their payments were received.
Only after paying in full would they be transported to various locations across at least 20 states.
According to the federal indictment:
The human cost of this operation was staggering. The smuggling ring has been linked to the deaths of seven individuals, including a four-year-old child.
José Paxtor-Oxalj, connected to the operation, was arrested for a deadly car crash in Oklahoma that killed these seven migrants. Meanwhile, a third suspect, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, remains at large and has made threats against a Homeland Security agent and their family.
The charges are appropriately severe. If convicted, the accused could face either the death penalty or life in prison. McNally said during a news conference:
These smuggling organizations have no regard for human life, and their conduct kills.
This criminal operation shows exactly why border security is not just a political issue—it is a humanitarian issue. And strong borders actually save lives.
Since returning to office, President Trump has taken decisive steps to tighten security at the southern border, ending the previous catch-and-release policy that allowed so many to disappear into the interior.
The results speak for themselves. The number of illegal border crossings dropped significantly last month, with approximately 8,000 encounters reported—the lowest in at least 25 years, according to data from Border Patrol obtained by The New York Post.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified enforcement efforts. Additional military personnel have been deployed to support border operations. These policy changes are not just about numbers. They’re about preventing tragedies like those connected to the Renoj-Matul organization.
The Justice Department’s aggressive prosecution of this case sends a clear message to other smuggling networks: America’s borders are no longer open for business.
***Also, from Breitbart:
Border Patrol agents and their law enforcement partners have managed to seize and prevent more than $25 million in cocaine from reaching the interior of the United States during the past seven days.
The latest seizure, which occurred on Thursday near San Clemente, California, involved a Border Patrol K-9 unit that sniffed out the illicit substance hidden in trash bags located in the trunk of a vehicle. The team discovered 47.5 pounds of cocaine—the drugs and two suspects were turned over to the DEA for state prosecution.
There were also other multiple major drug busts. In the Rio Grande Valley Sector alone, agents seized nearly 560 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $18 million in just three separate events on February 23.
Further, two seizures occurred at fixed highway checkpoints during routine immigration inspections, while a third resulted from a roving patrol stop.
