Two people are facing human smuggling charges in Arizona after being arrested in Mexico. Ofelia Hernandez-Salas a.k.a Doña Lupe and Raul Saucedo-Huipio are accused of being involved in an international smuggling operation along the U.S.-Mexico border for years.
The announcement from the Department of Justice comes as thousands of migrants continue to illegally cross into the U.S. every week.
Remember when Title 42 ended, and the Biden Admin started crowing about how they had this great plan at the border that was reducing numbers and about how "prepared" they were? Or their tepid "Don't come😉" warnings?
Yeah. pic.twitter.com/m2XPe4VtNI
— Border Patrol Union – NBPC (@BPUnion) September 23, 2023
Hernandez-Salas, age 60, and Saucedo-Huipio, age 48, were arrested at the request of the United States pursuant to charges previously filed in the District of Arizona and unsealed last week. Hernandez-Salas and Saucedo-Huipio allegedly conspired with other smugglers to facilitate the travel of large numbers of migrants from and through Bangladesh, Yemen, Pakistan, Eritrea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and ultimately, into the United States. Hernandez-Salas and Saucedo-Huipio allegedly charged the migrants as much as tens of thousands of dollars to make the illegal and perilous journey. In addition to the large-scale smuggling of migrants to the United States, Hernandez-Salas and Saucedo-Huipio often allegedly robbed the migrants of their personal belongings while armed with weapons such as guns and knives.