U.S. Attorney indicts key figures in major human smuggling operation crackdown

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The U.S. Attorney for New Mexico has announced new indictments against key players in a transnational human smuggling operation. Joint Task Force Alpha, featuring members of the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security have been investigating the Lopez human smuggling operation for years.

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“Today, we unseal another indictment against Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar as we dismantle another arm of his human smuggling operation that spans from Guatemala through Mexico and here into the United States,” said Alexander Uballez, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico.

The task force said Lopez-Escobar, who lives in Guatemala, is the leader of the Lopez Crime Family. They said going back to 2017, the organization has smuggled thousands of people from Guatemala to the United States, mainly into New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Lopez-Escobar and seven other members of the crime family were indicted for conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal migrants on Thursday. That includes Lopez-Escobar’s son, Whiskey Hans Lopez-Ambrosio who was picked up in Florida, and his daughter-in-law Karen Stefnay Hernandez Vangeas.

Homeland Security said one other suspect was also arrested. “Last month, our special agents in San Jose, California arrested Elvis Lopez-Aambrosio on criminal warrants that were filed out of the District of New Mexico for this very investigation. Lopez-Ambrosio is the main target and leader of one of the smuggling cells,” said Acting Special Agent J.T. Stevens, Homeland Security Investigations.

Lopez-Escobar was indicted on a similar charge last year but has remained a fugitive.

The U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned the smuggling organization’s U.S. banking operations. They said the organization has taken more than $400 million in payments to transport people across the border since 2020.

Joint Task Force Alpha is also working with the Guatemalan government to see what can be done there to stop the smuggling operation.

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