Leaders of massive human smuggling ring that funneled 20K illegal migrants from Guatemala to US arrested

The two top leaders of one of the biggest human smuggling rings that funneled 20,000 illegal migrants into the US since 2019 have been arrested in Los Angeles, authorities said.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, who was busted Friday, is accused of helming the twisted group, which lured migrants from Guatemala for $15,000 to $18,000 and handed them off to smugglers in Mexico who would bring them into the US.

The feds also collared Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, who prosecutors said was Renoj-Matul’s “right-hand man,” on Friday. The two men are being held without bond.

The ring is accused of holding some of its victims hostage in stash houses and killing seven migrants, including a 4-year-old, according to a federal indictment.

Acting US Attorney Joseph McNally said the indictment and arrests “have dismantled one of the country’s largest and most dangerous smuggling organizations.”

“This work saves lives, and the members of the organization will now face significant consequences,” said McNally.

Some of the smuggled migrants were held hostage in stash houses in Phoenix and Los Angeles until they could pay their fees, officials said.

Once the debt was paid, the group allegedly transported the migrants across the country to at least 20 states, including New York, for an additional fee.

In one example of the group’s brutality, prosecutors alleged Renoj-Matul called a migrant’s mother, threatening that her daughter “would come home in a box” if she failed to pay her smuggling fees.

A third suspect, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, described as the group’s “lieutenant,” is still at-large after threatening to behead a Homeland Security agent, along with members of their family, authorities said.

If convicted of all, the accused smugglers face the death sentence or life imprisonment.

The Trump administration has locked down the southern border with Mexico in recent weeks by ending the problematic catch-and-release policy, instructing ICE to ramp up arrests and deploying thousands of additional troops to the frontlines.

As a result, roughly 8,000 illegal border crossers were encountered last month, marking the lowest month of illegal immigration in the region in at least 25 years, according to data first obtained by The Post.

President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has vowed to not stop cracking down on illegal immigration until every criminal migrant is “eradicated.”

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