A Guatemalan man and his top lieutenant have been arrested and face multiple federal charges for purportedly leading a human-smuggling ring that brought about 20,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S.
Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 51, aka “Turko,” and his “right-hand man,” Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, 49, were arrested Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
The men, residents of the Westlake neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles, are being jailed without bond ahead of their trial, which is set to begin on April 22.
Between 2019 and 2024, the men allegedly brought thousands of people from Guatemala to the U.S., though sometimes, those migrants were held hostage or put in dangerous situations leading to their deaths.
As an example, officials highlighted a 2023 car crash in Oklahoma that killed seven people, including a 4-year-old child.
In that crash, Renoj-Matul’s underling Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj, 44, was driving migrants from New York to Los Angeles when he “caused a car accident in Elk City, Oklahoma,” resulting in the deaths of seven passengers, including three children as young as 4 years old.
Paxtor-Oxlaj, who’d been previously deported in 2010, was taken into custody and charged with being an illegal alien in the U.S. after being deported.
Paxtor-Oxlaj and Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, 41, aka “Xavi,” a lieutenant in the organization who remains on the loose, were charged alongside Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj.
Beyond smuggling, the men also threatened deadly violence against those they trafficked and law enforcement, officials said.
“A separate federal criminal complaint filed March 2 charges Obispo-Hernandez with threatening to cut off the heads of a Homeland Security Investigations Task Force Officer and members of his family,” the release said. “The threats were allegedly made Friday to the federal law enforcement office in the wake of search warrants being executed at Obispo-Hernandez’s residence.”
Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj also allegedly held two Guatemalan nationals hostage in Westlake for months last year, “allegedly threaten[ing] to kill the victims until third parties paid for their release.”
All four men are charged with conspiracy to bring aliens into the U.S., transporting aliens in the U.s. and harboring aliens for private financial gain and resulting in death.
“Additionally, Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj are charged with two counts of hostage taking,” the release said. “Obispo-Hernandez and Paxtor-Oxlaj also are charged with one count of transporting aliens in the United States for private financial gain and resulting in death.”
If convicted on all counts, the men could be sentenced to death or life in prison, though officials indicated they believe the case will have an impact larger than these four men.
“The indictment and arrests here have dismantled one of the country’s largest and most dangerous smuggling organizations,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “This work saves lives, and the members of the organization will now face significant consequences.”
