14 Charged With Smuggling Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants Into America

The body of one immigrant who died from heat exposure was discarded in the desert.

Human smugglers drive ATVs on the Mexican side of the U.S. border wall near Jacumba, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

More than a dozen members of a “prolific alien smuggling organization” were charged for allegedly facilitating the illegal entry of people from Central and South America across the southern border, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The indictment was issued by a grand jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico, against 14 individuals, eight of whom were arrested on Feb. 20 and 21, the agency said in a Feb. 24 statement.