A Mexican man extradited from Mexico has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle thousands of aliens from multiple countries into the United States for financial gain.
According to court documents, beginning in November 2020 and continuing through September 2023, Efrain Zuniga-Garcia, 38, of Mexico, and others were part of a vast international alien smuggling organization (ASO) that illegally brought thousands of aliens from Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Ecuador into the United States across the border with Mexico. The ASO operated stash houses in Monterrey, Mexico and Piedras Negras, Mexico. A Pakistani smuggler based in Brazil originally contracted with aliens to enter the smuggling venture. In turn, this Brazilian-based smuggler worked with a San Antonio, Texas, based smuggler and an illegal alien from Honduras, Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga, to facilitate travel of the aliens from South America to the United States. Mejia-Zuniga directed operations, as well as paid armed foot guides (“coyotes”), load drivers, and stash house operators, including Zuniga-Garcia. According to court documents, Mejia-Zuniga admitted that the ASO smuggled between 2,500 to 3,000 aliens into the United States in just two years. Mejia-Zuniga stated the organization charged between $6,500 to $12,000 per alien, totaling approximately $16 to $30 million in financial gain. Mejia-Zuniga was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2025. Co-defendant Monica Hernandez-Palma, 34, of Mexico, was sentenced to 41 months in prison in May 2026.
Zuniga-Garcia operated the stash house in Monterrey and coordinated with other members of the ASO to transport aliens to the stash house and then illegally into the United States. Zuniga-Garcia worked with others to house aliens for a period, after which the aliens would be turned over to the “coyotes,” who led them across the U.S.-Mexico border by crossing the Rio Grande River.
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. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Zuniga Garcia faces a mandatory minimum penalty of three years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas; and Acting Special Agent in Charge John A. Pasciucco of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio made the announcement.
HSI Del Rio led U.S. investigative efforts, working in concert with the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force and U.S. Border Patrol (BP). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of Zuniga-Garcia.
The original announcement can be found here.
