U.S. Department
of Justice
Human Smuggling / Trafficking in Persons
Background
OPDAT was created in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in 1991 in response to the growing threat of transnational crime. OPDAT builds strong foreign partners who can work with the United States to enhance cooperation in transnational cases and to fight crime before it reaches our shores. This includes working with counterparts in countries, which are sources, transit points, and destinations of human smuggling (HS) and trafficking in persons (TIP), to investigate and prosecute these and related transnational crimes thereby protecting U.S. national security.
OPDAT’s Western Hemisphere Programs (WHP)
In the Western Hemisphere, OPDAT’s work focuses on providing technical assistance to counterparts in building complex investigations and prosecutions, including those involving transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and HS / TIP. OPDAT’s programs in Guatemala and Colombia programs have focused anti-HS and anti-TIP components. OPDAT’s programs in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay have provided technical assistance to combat Human Smuggling Organizations (HSO), which use smuggling routes to transport Known Suspected Terrorists (KST). OPDAT’s programs work in tandem with DOJ’s Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA).
Some important key successes because of OPDAT’s program and work with JTFA (past and present) are:
- In Guatemala:
- Nineteen members of an HSO were arrested and four leaders extradited and convicted in Texas.
- In the Caso San Antonio case, involving the deaths of 53 migrants who died in a sweltering tractor trailer from Mexico to Texas, an HSO was taken down and 7 smugglers were arrested and extradited to Texas (4 were convicted); 4 were prosecuted in Guatemala.
- In Honduras:
- OPDAT assisted a bilateral JTFA investigation where nine men were convicted for their roles in a scheme to illegally smuggle 24 Honduran nationals, and 24 kilos of cocaine, into the United States aboard a sports fishing vessel. The Honduran Government will prosecute additional defendants.
In 2024, in Colombia and Ecuador, OPDAT hosted regional human smuggling events focused on HSOs and KSTs in which more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru discussed best practices and case studies to better combat HSOs as well as fentanyl trafficking; and the use of financial investigations and analysis to uncover wider criminal networks.
These events have led to concrete results:
- at the conference in Santa Marta, a presentation on a JTFA case made by the USAO for the Southern District of California prompted the Mexico delegation to commit to assist in the investigation and in the potential extradition to the U.S. of the target.
- Similarly, HSI Brazil realized that one of their targets, who had been indicted by DOJ and was awaiting extradition from Pakistan, belonged to the same smuggling organization being investigated in the JTFA case.
- In late 2024, in Colombian law enforcement executed a Chilean arrest warrant for a fugitive leader of Tren de Aragua (TdA). The coordination resulted from the countries’ participation in a 2023 OPDAT-hosted regional anti-HS event.
Europe
TIP in Europe is closely linked to organized crime. OPDAT continuously provides technical assistance to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate human trafficking cases. OPDAT has provided technical skills workshops to police, prosecutors, and judges from across the Balkans on identifying, interviewing, and supporting trafficking victims, and the adjudication of such cases. OPDAT also supports the creation, management, and mentoring of law enforcement task forces for combatting TIP.
Asia
OPDAT in Asia, including in Sri Lanka, shares U.S. best practices for the identification, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of TIP cases. For example, Bangladeshi Human Trafficking Tribunal judges and prosecutors have learned U.S. best practices on securing victim testimony via video depositions.
OPDAT in Indonesia has emphasized similar testimonial and interviewing best practices, in addition to sharing different investigative strategies and techniques, methods for preparing TIP cases for court, and the linkages between TIP and terrorism financing / money laundering.
The United States is a desirable destination for many Nepalis and remains the top remittance source for Nepal. Seizing on the demand, human traffickers take advantage of Nepali citizens, using false promises of entry and employment opportunities in the United States. Thousands of Nepalis have fallen victim to these traffickers and been forced into unpaid labor and debt bondage for illegal entry into the United States through the U.S.-Mexico border. To help address these concerns, in August 2024, OPDAT hosted an anti-TIP program for Nepali investigators, prosecutors, and immigration officials.
Africa
Africa suffers from a combination of factors that make it vulnerable to various types of crime, including HS and TIP. OPDAT’s strategies in Africa place a premium on pursuing threats to their source and working with African partners to improve the ability of their security services to counter crime. OPDAT also coordinates multilateral justice-sector assistance efforts through the International Institute of Justice. Its programs across Africa have addressed TIP.