A Mexican national was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after prosecutors said she ran a wide-reaching human smuggling ring that funneled hundreds of people from more than a dozen countries across the U.S.-Mexico border and preyed on them along the way.
Ofelia Hernandez Salas, 64, of Mexicali, was sentenced this week after federal court filings described her role in a multi-year smuggling operation that moved migrants into the United States for profit. Authorities say the network handled large flows of people and charged expensive fees, turning migration into a criminal business rather than a humanitarian crisis.
Court documents allege Hernandez Salas and co-conspirators brought illegal aliens into and through dozens of countries before delivering them to the border, including Bangladesh, Yemen, Pakistan, Eritrea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Prosecutors say the organization moved people from far-flung places as well as the Western Hemisphere, collecting tens of thousands of dollars in some cases for passage.
Beyond charging steep sums, the indictment and statements from investigators accuse Hernandez Salas of using violence and theft against the migrants she moved. The filings say she and others often robbed migrants of money, cell phones, and belongings, and sometimes did so at gunpoint or with knives.
“Transnational human smuggling at a large scale directly threatens our national security,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Ofelia Hernandez Salas and her co-conspirators endangered our communities on a massive scale by illegally bringing foreign nationals from more than a dozen countries into the United States. Not only did she take away the ability to properly vet these people from immigration authorities, she and her co-conspirators also robbed these people of their personal belongings at gun or knife point. Illegal border crossings are already incredibly dangerous; this defendant only increased the potential of mortal danger they faced by adding robbery to her criminal acts.”
Investigators laid out how the ring moved people across the physical barrier that separates the two countries. Smugglers allegedly provided ladders to climb over fence sections, pointed out holes to crawl under, and even supplied planks to cross waterways so groups could move in droves across the border.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office alongside our federal and international partners use every available tool to aggressively target and dismantle dangerous transnational human smuggling organizations and bring their leaders to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona. “This investigation and prosecution exemplify the work that is being done every day in the District of Arizona and through Joint Task Force Alpha to secure our nation’s southern border and protect the American people.”
In March 2023, Hernandez Salas and co-conspirator Raul Saucedo-Huipio were arrested in Mexico following an extradition request from the United States and remained in federal custody. Hernandez Salas pleaded guilty in December 2024 to one count of conspiracy to bring an illegal alien to the United States and three substantive counts of bringing an illegal alien to the United States for commercial benefit or private financial gain, and she faces deportation after serving her sentence. Saucedo-Huipio has also pleaded guilty and is pending sentencing in June 2026.
The case was led by Joint Task Force Alpha, the Justice Department’s strike team focused on high-impact human smuggling and trafficking tied to cartels and transnational criminal organizations. JTFA exists to dismantle the leadership, organizers, and major facilitators of cross-border smuggling that threaten public safety and border security across the Americas.
JTFA teams are drawn from the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and are supported by Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture teams, Office of International Affairs, and enforcement operations offices. The task force coordinates with USAOs and federal law enforcement nationwide and pairs prosecutors with DHS investigators, ICE HSI, CBP, Border Patrol, FBI, and other partners to pursue cases at scale.
Prosecutors noted tangible results from that coordinated approach: JTFA’s work has led to more than 450 domestic and international arrests of leaders and significant facilitators, over 400 U.S. convictions, and more than 345 significant jail sentences imposed, along with sizeable asset forfeitures. HSI Yuma investigated this specific case with assistance from U.S. Border Patrol, CBP, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service, working alongside HSI Tijuana, INTERPOL, and HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs helped secure arrests and extradition from Mexico, with Mexican law enforcement and diplomatic partners playing key roles in bringing Hernandez Salas into U.S. custody. The Department also acknowledged assistance from the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training in the case.
Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Crowley for the District of Arizona prosecuted the case, with substantial support from international and federal partners. The sentence sends a clear message that large-scale smugglers who profit from dangerous border crossings and prey on vulnerable migrants will face federal prosecution and lengthy prison terms.
