Alleged Ringleader of Human Smuggling Organization Extradited to San Diego

Migrants use a rope ladder to illegally climb over the U.S. border wall separating the United States from Mexico in El Centro, Calif. on Oct. 6, 2022. Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images

SAN DIEGO—The alleged leader of a “prolific” human smuggling organization has been extradited to San Diego, where he faces federal charges for allegedly bringing hundreds of migrants into the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said on Sept. 12.

Prosecutors say Luis Antonio Mendez-Brahan, 55, of Tijuana, ran a smuggling organization for nearly a decade that charged migrants between $6,000 and $8,000 to be smuggled across the border.