Efrain Zuniga-Garcia, a 38-year-old Mexican national extradited from Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court in Texas to charges tied to a network that illegally brought thousands of people from multiple countries into the United States, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Federal prosecutors said Zuniga-Garcia admitted participating in a conspiracy that operated from November 2020 through September 2023, using stash houses in Monterrey and Piedras Negras, Mexico, to facilitate illegal border crossings into the United States. (justice.gov)
According to the Justice Department, the organization moved thousands of people into the United States, including migrants from Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Ecuador. (justice.gov)
Prosecutors said Zuniga-Garcia operated the Monterrey stash house and helped coordinate transportation to that location. Migrants were then turned over to armed foot guides—often referred to as “coyotes”—who led them across the U.S.-Mexico border by crossing the Rio Grande, authorities said. (justice.gov)
Zuniga-Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain, and aiding and abetting, the Justice Department said. A sentencing date had not been set, and he faces a mandatory minimum of three years in prison; a federal judge will determine the final sentence after considering federal guidelines and other statutory factors. (justice.gov)
The Justice Department said a co-defendant, Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2025 after admitting the organization smuggled between 2,500 and 3,000 people into the United States over roughly two years and charged $6,500 to $12,000 per person. (justice.gov)
In a statement cited by the U.S. Embassy in Honduras and reported by EFE, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said Mejia-Zuniga’s conduct “put our national security at risk.” (swissinfo.ch)
