Overview
- Saiful Islam, 39, who was extradited from Brazil, is set for an initial federal court appearance in Laredo on Monday as the Southern District of Texas unsealed the case.
- Prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to bring migrants to the United States, multiple counts of bringing migrants for financial gain, and conspiracy to encourage or induce unlawful entry.
- Court filings say he helped move people from São Paulo and other points in South and Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border, where they were told to wade the Rio Grande or jump a fence.
- If convicted of bringing migrants for profit, he faces a mandatory minimum of three or five years and up to 15 years in prison, while related conspiracy counts carry up to 10 years.
- HSI teams in Phoenix and Laredo led the probe with help from CBP’s International Interdiction Task Force, Border Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service, and INTERPOL, and DOJ’s international affairs office secured the arrest and extradition as JTFA-backed prosecutors Spencer M. Perry and Leslie Cortez take the case forward with Islam presumed innocent.