LOS ANGELES—Federal law enforcement in Los Angeles Monday announced charges against four people suspected of smuggling about 20,000 illegal immigrants from Guatemala to the United States, including seven who died in a car crash in 2023.
Officials said the operators of the so-called Turko Organization—Eduardo Domingo “Turko” Renoj-Matul, Cristobal Mejia-Chaj, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez and Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj—were charged in Los Angeles federal court last week.
Renoj-Matul, 51, and Mejia-Chaj, 49, were arrested Friday and each appeared in court where they were ordered held without bond. If convicted, they could each face the death penalty, officials said.
Paxtor-Oxlaj, 44, is behind bars in Oklahoma for his role in a 2023 car crash that killed seven immigrants, including three children, court papers show….