An undocumented immigrant who lived in Los Angeles pleaded guilty on Friday to leading what authorities say was one of the largest human smuggling operations in the United States.
The Department of Justice reported that Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, 52, had pled guilty to conspiracy, transporting and harboring undocumented immigrants, and hostage abduction. He’s been in federal custody since February 2025.
According to prosecutors, Renoj-Matul, also known as “Turko,” “El Jefe,” “Patron,” and “El Gallo,” received payments ranging from $15,000 to $18,000 to transport immigrants from Guatemala into the United States via Mexico utilizing a network of drivers and safe houses.
The DOJ reported that one stash home was located on James M. Wood Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Westlake area.
“After an illegal alien’s smuggling fee was paid, the illegal alien was transported by co-conspirators to another destination within the United States,” according to the Justice Department. “If an illegal alien’s smuggling fees were not paid, Renoj-Matul and other co-conspirators would hold that illegal alien against their will at the Westlake house until their fee was paid.”
Renoj-Matul admitted in his plea deal to smuggling around 20,000 persons into the United States between 2019 and July 2024, sending them to Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
Prosecutors also outlined a pattern of intimidation and fear throughout the operation.
According to the DOJ, after a third party failed to pay the smuggling charge, Renoj-Matul and his cohorts called the immigrant’s mother and threatened that her daughter “would come home in a box” if the money was not provided. The victim was held hostage at the Westlake home for two months.
Renoj-Matul will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison when he is sentenced in October.
Several of his alleged co-conspirators are still awaiting trial, including José Paxtor Oxlaj, 45, a suspected driver who was involved in a crash in Oklahoma that killed seven people, including a four-year-old.
