Man admits to smuggling 20K+ into US, marking major human smuggling operation

A Guatemalan citizen has admitted to illegally bringing thousands of individuals into the United States through a human smuggling operation.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, aged 52, admitted guilt on March 6 to "leading one of the largest human trafficking operations within the country," according to the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in a press release.

Renoj-Matul — who also goes by the monikers “Turko,” “El Jefe,” “Patrón” and “El Gallo” — confessed as part of a plea agreement that he smuggled approximately 20,000 undocumented individuals from Guatemala into the United States from 2019 to July 2024, as stated by the district attorney’s office.

The 52-year-old received payment amounts ranging from $15,000 to $18,000 to assist in the illegal entry of immigrants into the United States and “coordinated their travel” from Guatemala.

These immigrants would be handed over to Mexican smuggling groups, which would then transport them across the U.S.-Mexico border, officials stated.

Renoj-Matul also arranged vehicles to transport these individuals throughout the country once they were across the border.

They were taken to various states including Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., as per officials.

Renoj-Matul's syndicate “managed smuggling cells, teams of drivers who carried illegal immigrants, and operators of holding locations where they were kept within the United States,” according to the district attorney’s office.

The 52-year-old managed operations from "a stash house for illegal immigrants" situated in Los Angeles and sometimes forcibly detained immigrants there "against their will" until their fees were settled, according to officials.

Renoj-Matul conceded as part of his plea agreement that he detained two individuals at this site, including one from May 2024 to July 2024.

During this period, officials reported that he menaced the immigrant's mother with threats if the fees weren’t settled.

He also held another immigrant captive from April 2024 to July 2024 and “threatened with death, injury, and continued detention to force” a third person to pay the required fees.

Regarding the fees, Renoj-Matul organized for them to be sent from Los Angeles to Phoenix to cover costs and fund the Mexican smuggling organisation.

The 52-year-old acknowledged before the judge that “his actions aimed at achieving personal financial gain.”

Renoj-Matul pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to transport aliens to the U.S., moving aliens within the country, and harboring aliens in the U.S. for personal profit and one count of kidnapping.

His next court session is scheduled for October 2, where he could likely face “a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment in federal prison,” the district attorney’s office stated.

His associates, José Paxtor-Oxlaj, 45, and Cristóbal Mejia-Chaj, 50 — who were involved in the operation as a driver and Renoj-Matul’s alleged deputy, respectively — are scheduled for trial on April 21. Both have entered not-guilty pleas.

Another individual — Helmer Obispo-Hernández, 42, suspected to be a senior member in the criminal group — is also charged at the federal level in this matter and is currently a fugitive, as stated by officials.