Two leaders of the group who were suspected, 20,000 immigrants in La | to have arrested California

Two alleged leaders of a criminal organization who were suspected of smuggling 20,000 people without constant legal residence residence from Guatemala were arrested in Los Angeles, the public prosecutor said on Monday.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, known as “Turko”, and his lieutenant Cristobal Mejia-Chaj were taken into custody on Friday and has not been guilty for over five years to have several charges in connection with migrants across the border across the border, the US lawyer office said. A federal judge ordered the men who are illegal in the country themselves until their trial in April without bond.

The indictment names Renoj-Matul as the head of a huge human smuggling ring that works for at least a dozen years and transports people mainly from Guatemala to the USA.

The criminal network was responsible for the death of seven immigrants without legal status, a four-year child who was killed in Oklahoma in a vehicle accident in November 2023, according to the public prosecutor.

A driver who has been in custody since this crash in Oklahoma, Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj, was also charged with the California charge, according to court documents. Another man, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, a lieutenant in the organization and superior of a team of drivers, is also charged. It is believed that he is in Guatemala, said officials.

Lawyers for the four men could not be found for a comment on Monday.

Renoj-Matual was supported by employees in Guatemala who each paid between $ 15,000 and $ 18,000 in order to be smuggled into the USA by Mexico, said prosecutor.

The migrants were transported for an additional fee and drawn to various destinations in the USA, including Los Angeles and Phoenix. According to the prosecutors, some of the migrants who could not pay the fees were held hostage in a hiding place near the city center of Los Angeles.

“These smuggling organizations have no consideration of human life and their behavioral murder,” said the reigning US lawyer Joseph T McNally. “The indictment and arrests here have broken down one of the largest and most dangerous smuggling organizations in the country.”

When convicted of all charges, the accused could be exposed to a statutory maximum sentence of death or lifelong detention.