Eight Members of Lopez Human Smuggling Organization Operating in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States Indicted and Two Arrested

ALBUQUERQUE – Today, U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez for the District of New Mexico, Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso, and Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Scott Good of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector, announced the unsealing of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 17, 2024, charging eight members of the leadership and middle management of the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization, a transnational criminal organization operating in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. Law enforcement officials effected the arrest of two alleged members of the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization in California and Florida in a coordinated, multistate enforcement operation.

In addition, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization today as part of its ongoing efforts to address the national security threat posed by human smuggling. Pursuant to Executive Order 13581, as amended, OFAC has taken action to freeze assets and limit financial transactions of the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization.

According to the indictment, Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar, aka “Tio Roni,” 46, of Malacatan, Guatemala, leads and oversees the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization from Guatemala.

Elvis Bersai Lopez-Ambrosio, aka “Pepe,” and Whiskey Hans Lopez-Ambrosio, aka “Hands,” coordinated with Mexican human smugglers, including Jumilca Sandivel Hernandez-Perez and a La Linea Cartel member known as “Chikis,” “Chiquis,” “Enano,” and “Chicken” to cross undocumented aliens from Guatemala through Mexico, and into the United States through Southern New Mexico.

Upon smuggling undocumented aliens into the United States through Southern New Mexico, Elvis and Whiskey would oversee and direct a network of mid-level smugglers including Eli Adonis Esteban-Lopez and Wenry Gabriel Gomez-Lopez, who assisted in carrying out the day-to-day operations of the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization, and Karen Stefany Hernandez-Vanegas, who received deposits and made payments to co-conspirators through the United States banking system, peer-to-peer money transfer applications, and bulk cash that were derived from the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization.

Furthermore, Elvis would instruct co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts in order to receive smuggling fees from smuggled aliens on Elvis’s behalf and in a manner that would be untraceable to Elvis. Elvis would then instruct co-conspirators to withdraw the funds and either: give the funds to Elvis, convert the funds into assets including real estate, or send funds to Lopez-Escobar or his nominees in Guatemala, utilizing money service business money wires, to minimize the trackability of the funds to Lopez-Escobar.

Federal investigators have uncovered evidence suggesting that the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization generated between $104 million and $416 million in illicit proceeds from their human smuggling activities between September 2020 and April 2023.

“Border security is about neighbors taking care of neighbors, reaching across jurisdictional and agency boundaries to protect our community,” said U.S. Attorney Uballez. “With this indictment, we bring the fight across borders to the transnational criminal organizations and their leadership. No longer will you profit in safety while migrants suffer and load-drivers take the risks, and the fall, for your greed. We are coming for you and your bank accounts.”

“HSI remains steadfast in vigorously using our broad investigative authority and international footprint to pursue transnational criminal organizations that not only put the lives of migrants at peril, but pose a threat to our national security,” said Jason T. Stevens, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI El Paso. “This case exemplifies a coalesced commitment among our federal law enforcement partners to ensure public safety by locking up violent criminal elements associated with these networks. Our message is clear: Human smugglers will not operate with impunity in our communities.”

“On behalf of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our local law enforcement partners for their role in this significant criminal apprehension,” said Anthony Scott Good, Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector. “The successes in the investigation of the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization represents our unified goal as law enforcement partners: protecting the very communities we live in. Border Patrol's mission extends beyond immigration; we strategically collaborate with local law enforcement to deter and address criminal threats.”

If convicted of the current charges, Lopez-Escobar faces up to 20 years in prison. Lopez-Escobar and nine co-defendants were charged with conspiracy to bring in, transport and harbor illegal aliens on May 24, 2023. Lopez-Escobar remains a fugitive.

If convicted of the current charges, Elvis Bersai Lopez-Ambrosio faces up to 20 years in prison.

If convicted of the current charges, Whiskey Hans Lopez-Ambrosio faces up to 10 years in prison.

If convicted of the current charges, Hernandez-Perez faces up to 10 years in prison.

If convicted of the current charges, Chikis faces up to 10 years in prison.

If convicted of the current charges, Esteban-Lopez faces up to 10 years in prison.

If convicted of the current charges, Gomez-Lopez faces up to 10 years in prison.

If convicted of the current charges, Hernandez-Vanegas faces up to 10 years in prison.

HSI El Paso led U.S. investigative efforts, with enforcement assistance from HSI in the Middle District of Florida and the Central District of California. HSI received investigative assistance from HSI Long Beach and San Jose, U.S. Border Patrol Deming, Lordsburg, Blythe, El Centro, Yuma, and Tucson, the U.S. Marshal Service’s Organized Crime and Gangs Branch, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center/Operation Sentinel, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department. The Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) of the Department’s Criminal Division also provided support in this matter.

The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ramirez for the District of New Mexico.

The indictment of these defendants is the result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico is part of JTFA, which was established by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in June 2021 to marshal the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Justice Department, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and most recently in the Darién to include Colombia and Panama. The task force focuses on disrupting and dismantling smuggling and trafficking networks that abuse, exploit, or endanger migrants, pose national security threats, and are involved in organized crime. JTFA is comprised of detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, including the Southern District of Texas, the Western District of Texas, the District of New Mexico, the District of Arizona, and the Southern District of California. Dedicated support is also provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division that are part of JTFA, led by HRSP, and supported by the Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT), the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), MLARS, the Office of Enforcement Operations (OEO), the Office of International Affairs (OIA), and the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in over 310 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of human smuggling; over 250 U.S. convictions; over 185 significant sentences of 30 years or more in prison imposed; and substantial seizures and forfeiture of substantial assets and contraband, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, real property, vehicles, firearms and ammunition, and drugs; multiple indictments and successful extradition requests against foreign leadership targets.

Treasury Press Release

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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