Publisher’s Note: The following information was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs.
A Mexican man extradited from Mexico pleaded guilty Monday in Del Rio for conspiring to smuggle thousands of undocumented immigrants 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 that illegally brought thousands of people from Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador into the United States across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The organization operated stash houses in Monterrey and Piedras Negras, Mexico. A Pakistan-based smuggler operating from Brazil initially contracted with migrants seeking entry into the United States. That individual then worked with a San Antonio-based smuggler and an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga, to facilitate travel from South America to the United States.
According to court documents, Mejia-Zuniga directed the organization’s operations and paid armed foot guides, commonly referred to as “coyotes,” along with load drivers and stash house operators, including Zuniga-Garcia.
Mejia-Zuniga admitted the organization smuggled between 2,500 and 3,000 people into the United States in just two years. He also stated the organization charged between $6,500 and $12,000 per person, generating an estimated $16 million to $30 million in illegal proceeds. Mejia-Zuniga was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in July 2025. Co-defendant Monica Hernandez-Palma, 34, of Mexico, was sentenced to 41 months in prison in May 2026.
According to prosecutors, Zuniga-Garcia operated the stash house in Monterrey and coordinated with other members of the organization to transport migrants to the stash house before moving them illegally into the United States. After being housed for a period, migrants were turned over to coyotes who guided them across the Rio Grande.
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 been set.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in federal prison. A federal district judge will determine the final 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 Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio announced the guilty plea.
Homeland Security Investigations Del Rio led the U.S. investigation, working with the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force and the U.S. Border Patrol. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also worked with Mexican law enforcement authorities to secure Zuniga-Garcia’s arrest and extradition.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Bethany Allen of the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Duarte II for the Western District of Texas.
The investigation was conducted under Joint Task Force Alpha, the Justice Department’s initiative targeting high-impact human smuggling and human trafficking organizations operating throughout the Americas.
