Several illegal aliens have been running the gang from New Jersey, where they settled after they were released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As of writing, the gang has moved dozens – if not hundreds – of migrants into America using secretive tactics to get them past the scarcely-guarded border between Quebec and Vermont. Surprisingly, it has been able to continue operating despite members being caught several times. (Related: NYPD orders officers to tolerate violent gangs whose members are illegal immigrants to make the police “look good.”)
U.S. authorities have arrested and charged two accused ringleaders, both of whom are illegal immigrants. Reports say that a third alleged leader is still in Canada, where authorities say they have no powers to detain him. Prosecutors have linked the ringleaders to at least five thwarted smuggling incidents in Vermont which brought in at least 25 illegals into the country.
Additionally, runners have admitted to Border Patrol investigators that more illegal crossings remain undetected. According to reports, there were 10,021 arrests for illegal crossings at the border with Canada in 2023 – more than five times the number in the previous year. Many of these incidents took place in and around the Vermont area where the gang operated.
Analysts think that the route has become increasingly popular among wealthier migrants who want to avoid the more dangerous conditions on the southern border. Official figures also show that the northern border faces a disproportionately high number of crossings by people on the U.S. terror watchlist.
2 Illegals released into the U.S. run the operation
The gang's U.S. operations are managed in New Jersey by Jhon Reina-Perez, 34, and Victor Lopez-Padilla, 35. Reina-Perez and Lopez-Padilla are both undocumented migrants who entered America illegally through the southern border and were allowed to remain in the country pending immigration proceedings.
Court filings revealed that Reina-Perez is a Colombian national who illegally crossed from Mexico into America near El Paso, Texas, in April 2022. He was processed and then released into the U.S. "pending immigration proceedings," but he failed to comply with a condition that he check in with ICE officials.
In October 2022, Reina-Perez was detained a second time following an arrest near the Canadian border in Vermont. At the time, he was acting as an alleged "foot guide" to five individuals who had crossed the northern border illegally.
Despite the circumstances, Reina-Perez was once again released after he told Border Patrol agents that he planned to live in the state of Washington, according to an affidavit. The document added that after his release, Reina-Perez failed to check in again with ICE as a required condition of his release.
Meanwhile, Lopez-Padilla is a Guatemalan national who illegally entered the U.S. via the southern border on June 20, 2019. Filings revealed that he was arrested in Yucca, Arizona. He was processed then released from Border Patrol custody "on his own recognizance."
A month later, Lopez-Padilla enrolled in the Alternative to Detention program, which requires undocumented migrants to regularly check in with authorities. In November 2019, Lopez-Padilla requested to move in with his brother in Trenton, New Jersey.
In January 2020, a judge ordered that Lopez-Padilla should be deported after he failed to attend an immigration court hearing. It is unknown if he had any other run-ins with immigration authorities before his arrest over the smuggling plot.
Other migrants also involved in the scheme
The third alleged ringleader, Simon Jacinto-Ramos, is a Guatemalan national who prosecutors reported led the Canadian side of the plot. Jacinto-Ramos, who recently lived in Montreal, has been charged in the U.S. but remains at large. Canadian authorities added that the U.S. charges are not enough grounds to detain Jacinto-Ramos.
Most of the time, the migrants were directed by contacts in Canada to crossing hot spots north of the border. They then traveled in small groups, and were collected on the U.S. side by a driver paid by the smugglers to carry the migrants further into America.
The gang often employed drivers who were also illegal immigrants. They receive around $2,000 per trip to collect migrants at the border and drive them on to other locations, such as New Jersey.
In one case, one of the gang's drivers was released even though he was transporting illegal migrants. He then confessed that he earned around $14,000 as part of the gang's operations.
The driver, Elmer Bran-Galvez, was detained by Border Patrol agents last June 9, 2023. His vehicle was pulled over near the border in Franklin, Vermont, where four illegal migrants were found in the rear seats.
In an affidavit, Border Patrol agent James Loomis said Bran-Galvez "claimed to be a citizen of Guatemala without legal status in the United States." It was then revealed that he was awaiting proceedings in immigration court. Bran-Galvez said Lopez-Padilla communicates with him and the Canadians involved in the smuggling, with the ringleader telling the driver to delete their WhatsApp exchanges afterward.
The four smuggled men who were detained said they paid around $3,000 to a smuggler in Canada. They also expected to pay another $3,000 once they arrived in the United States.
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Watch this clip from Brannon Howse's "Worldview Report" about 150 child immigrant camps in Texas.
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