A federal grand jury in California’s Central District has indicted four Guatemalan nationals—Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, and Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj—on charges tied to a sprawling human smuggling network that prosecutors say moved 20,000 illegal aliens into the U.S. since 2019, raking in millions and leaving a trail of death and hostage-taking in its wake.
Unveiled February 25, the 21-page indictment paints a chilling picture of the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization (TCO), one of the nation’s largest smuggling outfits, now facing a reckoning.
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Dubbed “Turko” and “El Jefe,” Renoj-Matul allegedly led the TCO, orchestrating a pipeline from Guatemala through Mexico to stash houses in Phoenix and Los Angeles, including the notorious “Wood House” on James M. Wood Boulevard. Mejia-Chaj, his right-hand man, ran the Wood House, where migrants were held—sometimes hostage—until $15,000-$18,000 fees were paid.
Obispo-Hernandez, a lieutenant known as “Xabi,” managed drivers like Paxtor-Oxlaj, who shuttled aliens nationwide, one trip ending in a fatal November 2023 crash in Oklahoma that killed seven.
The charges—conspiracy to smuggle, transport, and harbor aliens for profit, plus hostage-taking—carry heavy weight: Count One alleges a scheme causing “multiple deaths,” while Counts Two through Four pinpoint a deadly transport and two hostage episodes in 2024. Prosecutors say the TCO smuggled Guatemalans across the U.S.-Mexico border, handed off from Mexican partners, then ferried them to L.A. for dispersal—often under duress.
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Overt acts detail dozens of transports since 2021, cash hauls up to $65,000 moved to Phoenix, and threats like “you’ll come home in a box” to extort families.
“This is a takedown of a ruthless empire built on exploitation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally, whose team seeks forfeiture of vehicles, properties, and cash tied to the operation.
The indictment, filed amid Trump’s border crackdown—crossings down 95% since January per CBP—underscores a grim reality: smuggling thrives despite tightened security, with fatal stakes. The November 2023 crash photos, sent via WhatsApp, and July 2024 hostage standoffs at the Wood House—where Renoj-Matul flashed a victim’s family photo to intimidate and highlight the brutality.
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All four defendants, illegally in the U.S., face life sentences if convicted. The DOJ’s International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section, led by J. Mark Childs, is prosecuting, signaling a broader offensive against TCOs.
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