Alleged Human Smuggling Ringleader Arrested in Tijuana, to Be Extradited to US

SAN DIEGO—A man accused of leading a Tijuana-based human smuggling organization responsible for bringing thousands of migrants into the United States through Mexico was arrested and charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed this week. Abdul Karim Conteh, 42, of Sierra Leone, is accused of running a group that smuggled migrants from various countries, some of whom paid tens of thousands of dollars to be brought in. The indictment states the smuggled migrants hailed from numerous countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Somalia, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Migrants were often transported through South and Central America on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border and once at the border, the indictment states Mr. Conteh “oversaw and assisted with their surreptitious and unlawful entry into the United States by various means, including the use of ladders and tunnels.”...