Two alleged leaders of a criminal organization suspected of smuggling 20,000 people from Guatemala to the U.S. have been arrested in Los Angeles by federal authorities. Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, known as “Turko,” and his lieutenant, Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, were taken into custody and have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to smuggling migrants across the border over five years.
A federal judge ordered the men, who are in the country illegally, jailed without bond until their trial in April. Renoj-Matul is identified as the head of one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the U.S., responsible for transporting people primarily from Guatemala to the U.S. The organization was linked to the deaths of seven immigrants, including a 4-year-old child, in a vehicle crash in Oklahoma in November 2023.
