The Justice Department announced that a Mexican national woman was sentenced to prison for participating in an international human smuggling entity. Her efforts contributed to the smuggling of “thousands” of illegal immigrants into the United States through Mexico.
Monica Hernandez-Palma pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to bring an alien to the United States and aiding and abetting bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain,” the DOJ revealed in a press release. 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.
“Alien Smuggling Organizations do not care about your hopes and dreams; they care only about your money,” said Justin R. Simmons, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, at the time. “This 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.
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.
“The 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,” the release read. “Hernandez-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.”
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 “armed coyotes” to carry out the human smuggling operations, according to the Justice Department.
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“Mejia-Zuniga admitted that the ASO smuggled between 2,500 to 3,000 aliens into the United States in just two years,” the Justice Department said. “Mejia-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.”
Mejia-Zuniga pleaded guilty to “three counts of bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain and aiding and abetting.” He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2025.
“In an effort to satisfy his greed, Mejia-Zuniga facilitated the illegal movement of thousands of Middle Easterners into the United States,” Simmons said at the time. “His actions put our national security at risk. However, thanks to our many federal law enforcement partners, Mejia-Zuniga will no longer be allowed to enrich himself to the detriment of this country.”