{"id":2602049,"date":"2026-05-13T08:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mexican-national-jailed-for-smuggling-thousands-of-illegal-immigrants-through-mexico-into-us\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T08:48:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:48:44","slug":"mexican-national-jailed-for-smuggling-thousands-of-illegal-immigrants-through-mexico-into-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mexican-national-jailed-for-smuggling-thousands-of-illegal-immigrants-through-mexico-into-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexican national jailed for smuggling \u2018thousands\u2019 of illegal immigrants through Mexico into US"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmexican-national-jailed-for-smuggling-thousands-of-illegal-immigrants-through-mexico-into-us%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2602049&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. Department of Justice says Mexican national Monica Hernandez-Palma was sentenced to 41 months in prison for helping run an international human smuggling operation that brought \u201cthousands\u201d of illegal immigrants into the United States via Mexico ports of entry from November 2020 to March 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Hernandez-Palma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring an alien to the U.S. and aiding and abetting that conduct for financial gain. Prosecutors say she worked with others to manage stash houses in Mexico-notably in Piedras Negras-then coordinated transport to the U.S. border, where people were lead across the Rio Grande by foot guides.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ also links the operation to another smuggler,Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga,who arranged transport logistics and paid armed coyotes. Court documents cited by the DOJ say the group smuggled about 2,500 to 3,000 people in two years, charging roughly $6,500 to $12,000 per person, generating an estimated $16 million to $30 million. Mejia-Zuniga pleaded guilty to related charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2025.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>The Justice Department <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/mexican-national-sentenced-prison-vast-alien-smuggling-conspiracy\">announced<\/a> that a Mexican national woman was sentenced to prison for participating in an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >international human smuggling entity<\/a>. Her efforts contributed to the smuggling of \u201cthousands\u201d of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/illegal-immigrants\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1972\">illegal immigrants<\/a> into the United States through <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mexico\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"322\">Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Monica Hernandez-Palma pleaded guilty to \u201cconspiracy to bring an alien to the United States and aiding and abetting bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain,\u201d the DOJ revealed in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/mexican-national-sentenced-prison-vast-alien-smuggling-conspiracy\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/mexican-national-sentenced-prison-vast-alien-smuggling-conspiracy\">press release<\/a>. She was part of an alien smuggling organization that trafficked illegal immigrants into the U.S. through ports of entry in Mexico between November 2020 and March 2023. She was sentenced to 41 months in prison for her crimes. <\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4565957\/rand-paul-teases-testimony-cia-whistleblower-covid-cover-up\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Rand Paul teases testimony of CIA whistleblower about the \u2018great COVID cover-up\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4565935\/appeals-court-spares-trump-paying-83-million-defamation-e-jean-carroll\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Appeals court spares Trump from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-spares-trump-from-paying-83-million-defamation-award-to-e-jean-carroll-for-now\/\" title=\"Appeals court spares Trump from paying  million defamation award to E. Jean Carroll \u2014 for now\">paying  million defamation award<\/a> to E. Jean Carroll \u2014 for now<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4565928\/mexican-national-jailed-for-smuggling-thousands-of-illegal-aliens\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Mexican national jailed for smuggling \u2018thousands\u2019 of illegal aliens through Mexico into U.S.<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>\u201cAlien Smuggling Organizations do not care about your hopes and dreams; they care only about your money,\u201d said Justin R. Simmons, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, at the time. \u201cThis sentencing represents a major blow to a complex criminal organization that has been successfully dismantled thanks to the work of our AUSAs and law enforcement partners.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The smuggled illegal immigrants were from countries in Central America, South America, and Asia, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Pakistan, and Yemen, according to court documents cited by the Justice Department. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ASO operated stash houses in Monterrey, Mexico, and Piedras Negras, Mexico. Hernandez-Palma operated the stash house in Piedras Negras and coordinated with other members of the ASO to transport aliens to the stash house and then into the U.S. illegally,\u201d the release read. \u201cHernandez-Palma worked with others to house aliens, after which the aliens would meet foot guides who led them across the U.S.-Mexico border by crossing the Rio Grande River.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hernandez-Palma collaborated with another smuggler, Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga of San Antonio, Texas, who arranged the transport of the illegal aliens into the U.S., the DOJ said. Mejia-Zuniga organized the transport system, arranging for stash houses to hold the illegal immigrants in locations such as Monterrey, Mexico, and Piedras Negras, Mexico, and paid \u201carmed coyotes\u201d to carry out the human smuggling operations, according to the Justice Department. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/4563767\/tech-executives-china-trump-xi-visit\/\">WHO ARE THE TECH EXECUTIVES FLYING TO CHINA WITH TRUMP FOR STATE VISIT<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMejia-Zuniga admitted that the ASO smuggled between 2,500 to 3,000 aliens into the United States in just two years,\u201d the Justice Department said. \u201cMejia-Zuniga stated that the organization charged between $6,500 to $12,000 per alien, totaling approximately $16 to $30 million in financial gain for the ASO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mejia-Zuniga pleaded guilty to \u201cthree counts of bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain and aiding and abetting.\u201d He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2025. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn an effort to satisfy his greed, Mejia-Zuniga facilitated the illegal movement of thousands of Middle Easterners into the United States,\u201d Simmons said at the time. \u201cHis actions put our national security at risk. However, thanks to our many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-confirms-laundrie-notebook-admits-guilt-will-close-gabby-petito-investigation\/\" title=\"FBI Confirms Laundrie Notebook Admits Guilt, Will Close Gabby Petito Investigation\">federal law enforcement partners<\/a>, Mejia-Zuniga will no longer be allowed to enrich himself to the detriment of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOJ: Mexican woman sentenced for human smuggling in Mexico<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2602050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP24326742278412.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[46194,33009,9349,79584,38974],"class_list":["post-2602049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-human-smuggling","tag-illegal-immigration","tag-jailed","tag-mexican-national","tag-us-mexico-border"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP24326742278412.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2602049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2602049"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2602049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2602053,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2602049\/revisions\/2602053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2602050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2602049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2602049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2602049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}