Her name is Tania Estudillo Hernández; she is barely 24 years old, but she is already facing charges for human smuggling and making profits of up to $7 million dollars.
In a case investigated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Arizona Police, the arrest of Estudillo Hernández, who led the group that charged and transported hundreds of immigrants, was allowed.
The money that it is stated that he obtained was for operations of only six months, but it has not been specified if he operated before and with which he was able to obtain greater profits.
The woman is now detained in Maricopa County, in Arizona, but the Efe agency affirms that the investigation is still open, so more arrests are not ruled out.
Sources close to the investigation told Efe on Wednesday that they do not rule out more arrests.
For now, Estudillo faces multiple charges, including kidnapping, money laundering and people smuggling. It is not clear if the case is for “human trafficking”, which would be a different crime.
The authorities detailed that the group transported between 80 and 100 undocumented immigrants on a monthly basis and operated for at least six months.
The arrest occurred last Friday, when the El Mirage Police Department in Arizona received a call from a woman who reported that a group of people were being held against their will, including her husband.
When they arrived at the address, the officers saw a vehicle leave the property, when they stopped it they found an undocumented migrant of Guatemalan origin who was being transported by Estudillo.
While the woman was being detained, two other suspects escaped from the scene at less with ten undocumented migrants, reported the police department in a press release.
In the house the authorities ades found several firearms, ammunition and evidence related to human trafficking.
The case is being investigated by various federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
El Mirage, a community within the city of Phoenix , is less than three hours by car from the border between the United States and Mexico.
It is a common practice for human traffickers to establish so-called “safe houses” near the border where they hide the migrants until their relatives in the United States pay the agreed “fees”.
With information from EFE
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