Mexican authorities extradited Raúl Saucedo Huipio to the United States, a 49-year-old man who may have been related to Ofelia Hernández Salas, a woman nicknamed Doña Lupe and who pleaded guilty to leading an organization dedicated to migrant trafficking linked to the Sinaloa Cartel last December.
It was on February 21 that Saucedo Huipio was handed over to the US agents in charge of presenting him to the District of Arizona. The recently extradited man is identified as a co-conspirator in migrant trafficking activities, according to the report shared on February 24.
In the US, Raúl Saucedo is accused of being an alleged foreign smuggler who would have operated for years from Mexicali, Baja California, in addition to being part of an international human trafficking conspiracy.
The capture of said subject was carried out at the beginning of March 2023 following a request by the US with the aim of his extradition.
Likewise, Raúl is accused of collaborating with other smugglers in actions to facilitate the travel of various migrants to the North American country. Acts for which he allegedly charged, together with Doña Lupe, thousands of dollars to migrants, in addition to also stealing their belongings.
Possible links with the Sinaloa Cartel
The actions of a Hernández Salas criminal structure were pointed out by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on June 16, 2023.
On that occasion, the structure was described as a sophisticated network that used different methods for migrant trafficking and that operated at least since 2018, in addition to the fact that Doña Lupe was accused of leading said group.
Sanctions filed in the US in 2023 (Treasury Department)
Ofelia Hernández was linked to “document falsification and corruption in Mexico to smuggle undocumented migrants into the United States through the southern border and has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.”
Along with Doña Lupe, four other individuals were sanctioned by the Treasury Department, including Raúl Saucedo, who was allegedly in charge of communicating with people in Central America to transport migrants. He was also linked to the collection of fees and coordination of trips.
On February 20, the dismantling of a migrant trafficking network operating between Chihuahua (Anapra area) and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, was reported.
Source: infobae
