Four men face federal charges on suspicion of leading a human smuggling operation that brought more than 20,000 illegal migrants into the United States from Guatemala since 2019, including seven who were killed in a car crash in Oklahoma in 2023, federal authorities announced Monday, March 3.

Three of the operators of the so-called Turko Organization – Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, Cristobal Mejia-Chaj and Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj –  were arrested Friday, Feb. 28, authorities announced. All are citizens of Guatemala who were in the United States illegally.

A fourth is a fugitive who allegedly threatened by phone to kill a Homeland Security agent and his family while authorities were serving search warrants as part of the investigation, said Joseph McNally, acting U.S. Attorney.

They face charges of conspiracy to bring, transport and harbor aliens to the United States for private financial gain and resulting in death, transporting aliens in the United States for financial gain and resulting in death, hostage taking and criminal forfeiture, according to an indictment.

Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj appeared in court and were being held without bond. If they are convicted as charged, the four men could face life in prison or the death penalty, authorities said.

McNally, said the ring is “one of the largest human smuggling operations in the nation.”

Renoj-Matul was identified as the leader of the operation and Mejia-Chaj was his “right-hand man,” authorities said in an indictment. Paxtor-Oxlaj was a driver for the operation.

Helmer Obispo-Hernandez was identified as a supervisor to the drivers in the operation, authorities said. While authorities served the warrants, Obispo called one of the agents and threatened to behead him and his family, McNally said Monday.

“We’ve gone after, with this indictment, the leadership (of the operation) and the reason is because that is the most efficient and effective way to do it,” McNally said Monday.

Over the course of about 12 years, co-conspirators in Guatemala would solicit illegal aliens to be smuggled into the United States at a cost of $15,000 to $18,000, according to the indictment.

The migrants would be brought into the U.S. through Mexico and then kept at “stash houses” located in Phoenix. Under the direction of Renoj-Matul and Obispo Hernandez, the migrants would be picked up by drivers and taken to various parts of the country if they had paid.

“Those who did not pay fees would be held hostage including here in the Westlake District of Los Angeles,” McNally said, adding that they faced threats of violence to themselves and family members.

In November 2023, while Paxtor-Oxlaj was driving seven migrants to Los Angeles through Elk City, Oklahoma, he was accused of causing a two-vehicle crash that killed them. Three of the migrants were children, one of them a 4-year old, McNally said Monday.

Gregory Bovino, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, said the operation was “a complex coast to coast organization.

“This organization was destroyed, dismantled top to bottom on Friday,” he added.

When asked how authorities got to the 20,000 number, McNally said said records kept by the organization were found during the service of the search warrants.