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Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced the expansion of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), an initiative to thwart transnational criminal organizations and cartels that fuel trafficking and smuggling.
At a press conference in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, Bondi warned that “the cost of human smuggling is huge” and that the deadly networks “are getting people killed.”
She went on to describe JTFA as a key weapon in the war against organized smuggling networks, often led by cartels and “coyotes” who profit from migrants trying to cross U.S. borders.
“We are investigating and prosecuting their crimes more aggressively tha ever. And Joint Task Force Alpha is the tip of the spear,” she added.
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“These operations are getting people killed,” Bondi said. “The cost of human smuggling is huge. So many families are dying.”
The attorney general went on to detail how one smuggling ring coached their clients, including children who came to airports alone and were put on planes for connecting flights.
“They charged up to $40,000 per victim,” she said. “They used Zelle to transfer over $7 million over the course of this scheme, and I believe they had cash profit of over 18 million.”
Bondi told reporters that since President Donald Trump took office, the task force had already charged 56 defendants tied to smuggling conspiracies.
She highlighted one case involving what she called a “monster” who tried to transport migrants across the U.S.-Canada border, resulting in deaths from exposure.
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Other Texas officials at the press event outlined specific cases underscoring the cruelty of smuggling operations.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons of the Western District of Texas said children as young as 3 had suffered THC poisoning after traffickers gave them drug-laced gummies to keep them calm and “compliant throughout the process.”
“The cartels see kids like cocaine,” he said, describing how children are treated as expendable in the billion-dollar illicit trade.
U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei, Southern District of Texas, added the cartels “do not care if you or your children have access to food, water or even air to breathe. They do not care if you live or die.”
Launched in June 2021 under Attorney General Merrick Garland, JTFA was created to target the most prolific human smuggling and trafficking networks in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The task force has since expanded to cover operations in Panama, Colombia and now northern and maritime U.S. borders.
JTFA has been credited with over 300 arrests, over 240 convictions and more than 170 sentencing outcomes, while seizing millions in illicit profits, vehicles, weapons and property from smuggling organizations.
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