Mexican man pleads guilty in Del Rio smuggling thousands into U.S.
A Mexican man extradited from Mexico admitted helping move thousands through a vast smuggling ring that funneled migrants across the Del Rio sector for up to $30 million.
A Mexican man extradited from Mexico pleaded guilty in Del Rio federal court on Monday to helping move thousands of undocumented immigrants through a sprawling smuggling network that stretched across the U.S.-Mexico border corridor. Efrain Zuniga-Garcia, 38, was part of an operation that ran from November 2020 through September 2023 and moved people from multiple continents for profit.
The ring was a vast international alien smuggling organization that handled migrants from Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador. The operation used stash houses in Monterrey and Piedras Negras, Mexico, before turning people over to guides who crossed them into the United States.
Zuniga-Garcia admitted guilt to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States, bringing an alien to the United States for financial gain, and aiding and abetting. His role included operating a stash house in Monterrey and helping coordinate transport into the United States. After migrants were housed for a time, they were handed off to coyotes who guided them across the Rio Grande.
The organization worked with a Pakistan-based smuggler operating from Brazil, a San Antonio-based smuggler and Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras who helped coordinate travel from South America to the United States. Mejia-Zuniga directed the organization’s operations and paid armed foot guides, load drivers and stash house operators, including Zuniga-Garcia.
Mejia-Zuniga admitted the group smuggled between 2,500 and 3,000 people into the United States in just two years and charged each person between $6,500 and $12,000. Prosecutors estimated the enterprise generated between $16 million and $30 million in illegal proceeds.
Federal court in Val Verde County has repeatedly handled cases tied to the border corridor. Mejia-Zuniga was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in July 2025, and co-defendant Monica Hernandez-Palma received 41 months in prison in May 2026.
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