A man responsible for helping thousands of illegal immigrants reach the U.S. — including from some of the world’s most notorious terrorism hotspots — has been arrested, the Justice Department announced.
Abdul Karim Conteh was arrested in Mexico at the request of American officials, who are now seeking his extradition to face federal charges in southern California. His wife, Veronica Roblero Pivaral, is still at large.
Prosecutors said their network smuggled people from Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Somalia, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Ethiopia and Egypt. The migrants were brought into South America, then smuggled up the spine of Central America and Mexico.
Migrants paid tens of thousands of dollars to be smuggled.
“This arrest unravels a global web of coordinated human smuggling into the United States,” said Tara McGrath, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. “Even the most far-reaching, prolific networks cannot evade justice.”
Prosecutors said Mr. Conteh himself would assist the migrants in getting over the U.S.-Mexico border by using ladders and tunnels. An accomplice would provide fake identity documents and was responsible for making payments to others in the smuggling chain.
The indictment lists three specific illegal immigrants Mr. Conteh is accused of smuggling into southern California: Samyar Alinejad, on Feb. 16, 2023; and Ahmed Bezeid Moulaye and Cynthia Morfaw Atemafac on July 15, 2023.
Mr. Conteh, 42, is a citizen of Sierra Leone. Ms. Pivaral, 25, is Mexican. The indictment also charges other persons, though their identities are currently redacted.
The charges come as the border — and potential terrorism concerns — are particularly high.
Republicans say they fear terrorists have managed to sneak into the U.S. among the millions of illegal border crossers on President Biden’s watch.
Mr. Biden, in the presidential debate last month, dismissed those worries and said his recent policy changes are cooling down things at the border.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.