ICE launches operation in Guatemala to take down human smugglers, rescue migrants 

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that a large-scale operation it carried out in Guatemala led to the rescue of several migrants and arrests of smugglers from transnational crime organizations. 

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the criminal investigative agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the operation led to 20 arrest warrants and 54 search warrants in Guatemala from October 24 to 25, the agency said in a statement. 

The actions, in conjunction with the HSI Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU) and Guatemalan authorities, led to the arrest of 24 Guatemalan human smugglers and the seizure of $156,882 and other contraband. 

Additionally, the operation helped rescue 70 undocumented migrants from Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Venezuela that were being kept in several hotels around Guatemala City. 

"The enforcement actions we are taking against the vicious smuggling organizations that prey upon vulnerable individuals are unprecedented in their scope and scale," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. 

"This takedown by our Homeland Security Investigations is a powerful example of the thousands of actions we have taken to date. Our efforts are in partnership with other departments in the federal government and, critically, through increased collaboration with our foreign partners as well,” he added. 

Out of the 24 arrested, seven were Guatemalan police officers who helped smuggle migrants, according to ICE. The officers were arrested by the Guatemalan National Police’s (PNC) Internal Affairs Unit and are under investigation. 

ICE acting director Tae Johnson called human smuggling an "abhorrent crime" and said the agency "will keep exhausting every resource available to bring perpetrators to justice."