Federal authorities allege Abdul Karim Conteh of Sierra Leone coordinated the transportation and smuggling of thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East through Mexico into the U.S.

By ALEX RIGGINS | alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com | The San Diego Union-Tribune | UPDATED: July 18, 2024 at 4:41 p.m.

Federal authorities on Thursday announced sanctions and criminal charges against an alleged Tijuana-based international criminal group suspected of smuggling thousands of undocumented migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East into the United States.

An indictment against the group’s alleged leader, 42-year-old Sierra Leone national Abdul Karim Conteh, was unsealed Wednesday in federal court in San Diego. The indictment alleges that over a period of several years, Conteh and his Mexican wife, 25-year-old Veronica Roblero Pivaral, conspired with others to move the migrants from their home countries to South and Central America, and then north through Mexico to the U.S. border.

“Defendant Abdul Karim Conteh oversaw and assisted with their surreptitious and unlawful entry into the United States by various means, including the use of ladders and tunnels,” the indictment alleges. “… The migrants paid money, often tens of thousands of dollars, to be transported.”

Mexican authorities arrested Conteh on July 11 in Tijuana, and the U.S. is pursuing his extradition, according to the Department of Justice. Roblero, his wife, remains at large.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Thursday that it had sanctioned the group, which it dubbed the Abdul Karim Conteh Human Smuggling Organization, as well as Conteh, his wife and two others. The Treasury Department said the organization provided migrants with fraudulent documents; leveraged the U.S. financial system to receive payments; transported migrants to the border and advised them on how to cross; and maintained affiliations with other groups in other countries who helped funnel the migrants to Mexico.

The Treasury Department said that while Conteh was the leader of the group, his wife “plays a variety of critical roles in the organization, ranging from driving migrants to the U.S. border to receiving payments for smuggling operations.” Also sanctioned were Issa Kamara, from Sierra Leone, and Pasaman Francis Marin Abbe Pidoukou, from Togo. They allegedly helped facilitate the transport of migrants for the group.

The indictment unsealed Wednesday names Conteh and Roblero, but the names of additional defendants remain redacted. It was unclear if Kamara and Pidoukou were among the others charged in the indictment.

Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement that Thursday’s sanctions “(disrupt) the ability of those seeking to exploit and endanger desperate individuals in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland described Conteh’s alleged group in a statement as “prolific (and) exploitive” and promised to hold Conteh accountable.

“Human smugglers exploit the vulnerable for profit,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “… We are bringing the full force of the law to bear against the individuals and their organizations that perpetrate this heinous crime. We couple our unrelenting efforts with this warning to would-be migrants everywhere: do not believe the smuggler’s lies and risk your lives in their ruthless hands.”

The indictment alleges the smuggled migrants came from Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Somalia, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Ethiopia and Egypt. The Treasury Department said others came from Russia, China, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The indictment alleges they were transported to the U.S. border from varying starting locations, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.

The indictment charges Conteh, Roblero, and the other unnamed defendants with conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the U.S. That charge carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence. Conteh is also charged with three additional counts of unlawful smuggling of migrants for financial gain.

The alleged criminal group headed by Conteh is the fourth large-scale, transnational human-smuggling organization targeted by Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions since last June.

Last week, the Treasury Department sanctioned Tren de Aragua, which originated as a Venezuelan prison gang but has allegedly grown into a large group that specializes in human smuggling while also engaging in drug trafficking, money laundering, and other crimes.

In December the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Malas Mañas, an alleged criminal group based in Sonora, Mexico, south of Arizona. The group is allegedly engaged in human smuggling and drug trafficking and has suspected ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. In June 2023, sanctions were imposed against the Hernandez Salas transnational criminal organization, an alleged human-smuggling group operating in Mexicali, south of Imperial County.

Originally Published: July 18, 2024 at 4:29 p.m.