In a sweeping indictment announced Friday, the Department of Justice charged Edgar Sanchez-Solis, 23, of Kansas City, Kansas; Ignacio Diaz-Perez, 35, of Oakwood, Georgia; Samuel Diaz-Perez, 26, of Dublin, Ohio; and Salvador Diaz-Diaz, 32, of Columbus, Ohio. All four men were living in the U.S. illegally and allegedly worked together to smuggle hundreds of other illegal aliens across the U.S.-Canada border for profit.
According to court documents, the men were part of a broader smuggling network that spanned Mexico, Canada, and the United States. The organization specialized in guiding migrants from Mexico and Central and South America through Canada before sneaking them across the northern border into the U.S. Each smuggled individual reportedly paid thousands of dollars for the journey.
“Their operation wasn’t just illegal—it was dangerous,” prosecutors said, citing multiple high-speed chases and reckless escapes from law enforcement along the northern border. One incident in April 2023 saw smugglers flee the Burke Border Patrol Station in upstate New York, triggering a border sensor and leading officers on a high-speed pursuit. The suspects were caught transporting seven adults and three minors.
In another case a month later, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office used spike strips to stop a van that had refused to yield. The van was packed with illegal aliens, and both smugglers and migrants fled on foot before being apprehended. A third episode in August involved a vehicle filled with migrants racing through downtown Plattsburgh, New York, running red lights and causing a crash at a busy intersection. The driver and six passengers fled the scene but were later captured.
Federal officials say these dangerous actions put countless lives at risk, not just of the smuggled migrants but also of innocent bystanders and responding officers.
The indictment includes one conspiracy count and 25 individual counts of bringing in illegal aliens for profit. The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide crackdown on border crime launched by the Trump administration. The initiative, coordinated across ICE, DHS, DOJ, and Border Patrol, aims to shut down human trafficking networks and drug cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by President Trump.
Chief Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia of the Swanton Sector, which covers portions of the U.S.-Canada border, applauded the arrests. “The days of catch-and-release are over,” Garcia said in a statement. “If you attempt to enter the United States illegally, if you attempt to smuggle or traffic human beings, you will be apprehended and you will face severe consequences.”
Two of the suspects, Ignacio Diaz-Perez and Salvador Diaz-Diaz, had already been deported in the past but returned to the U.S. illegally. Now, all four men are being held pending trial, and prosecutors say more arrests could be on the horizon as the investigation continues.
The northern border is rarely the focus of national immigration debates, but experts warn that it’s increasingly exploited by smugglers looking to avoid the heavily patrolled southern border. With the Biden administration’s lax enforcement policies behind them, trafficking networks had grown bold. But the new Trump-era crackdown is shifting that dynamic.
President Trump recently celebrated his first 100 days of his second term, touting record-low illegal crossings, a surge in deportations, and expanded national security tools to combat human smuggling. “This administration will not rest until our borders are secure and our communities are safe,” he said in a statement last week.
This latest bust sends a strong message: under Trump’s Operation Take Back America, there’s no safe harbor for human traffickers—no matter what border they try to cross.
