Honduran woman facing human smuggling charges extradited to Arizona for the first time

José Ignacio Castañeda Perez, Arizona Republic
·2 min read

TUCSON — A Honduran citizen facing human smuggling charges was extradited to the U.S. for the first time on Thursday, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Maria Mendoza Mendoza, known as “guera” because of her light skin tone, arrived in Arizona near midnight Thursday after being extradited from Honduras. Mendoza is facing human smuggling and money laundering charges as part of an 18-count indictment alongside 26 other defendants, according to court documents.

“We bring these cases to vindicate our border and immigration laws, to deter criminal activity, and also to protect economic migrants from the dangers of cross-border smuggling,” Gary Restaino, the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona, said during a news conference on Friday.

Gary Restaino, the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona, speaks during a news conference about the extradition of a Honduran woman facing human smuggling charges. Leo Lamas, deputy special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Tucson; John Modlin, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector; and Acting U.S. Marshal Van Bayless are also pictured.

Officials with Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service gathered alongside Restaino at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tucson to announce the extradition.

Human smuggling indictment: 2 indicted in yearslong global human smuggling outfit along AZ-Mexico border

Mendoza was arrested in February and is at the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex in Florence. She’s set to make her initial appearance in court on Friday afternoon, Restaino said.

Two men, stopped on suspicion of human trafficking of three migrants, are detained by the U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 17, 2023, in Hereford. The driver, at center in gray, drove his mother's car from California and stopped to pick up the migrants on the side of the highway in front of a Border Patrol agent, authorities said.
Two men, stopped on suspicion of human trafficking of three migrants, are detained by the U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 17, 2023, in Hereford. The driver, at center in gray, drove his mother's car from California and stopped to pick up the migrants on the side of the highway in front of a Border Patrol agent, authorities said.

Mendoza is a leader in the human smuggling enterprise, which smuggled hundreds of migrants and brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars, Restaino said. The smuggling outfit transported large numbers of migrants across the border and to stash houses near Phoenix.

Targeting smuggling: New Arizona law makes it easier for law enforcement to go after human smugglers

Mendoza reportedly threatened to leave migrants and their families in the desert if they didn’t pay their smuggling fees, said Leo Lamas, deputy special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Tucson.

Mendoza also threatened members of her own criminal outfit, Lamas added.

A man, stopped on suspicion of human trafficking of three migrants, speaks to a pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents on Feb. 17, 2023, in Hereford. The man, along with an accomplice, drove his mother's car from California and stopped to pick up the migrants on the side of the highway in front of a Border Patrol agent, authorities said.
A man, stopped on suspicion of human trafficking of three migrants, speaks to a pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents on Feb. 17, 2023, in Hereford. The man, along with an accomplice, drove his mother's car from California and stopped to pick up the migrants on the side of the highway in front of a Border Patrol agent, authorities said.

The indictment was first filed in January 2018, and more than 20 of Mendoza’s co-defendants have already pleaded guilty. One defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison while others received three to four years, Restaino said.

Wiretap recordings, financial ledger documents and hundreds of hours of surveillance were used to build the yearslong case, officials said.

Have a news tip or story idea about the border and its communities? Contact the reporter at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or connect with him on Twitter @joseicastaneda.

OFFER FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS: $1 per month for 12 months of access to azcentral.com. Subscribe at azcentral.com/NewsSale.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Honduran woman charged with human smuggling extradited to US