http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/April/14-crm-449.html
*Department of Justice*
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 28, 2014
Alleged Human Smuggler Extradited to Face Charges in Washington, D.C.
Habtom Merhay, a national of Eritrea and a citizen of the United Kingdom,
made his initial appearance today in Washington, D.C., federal court to
face human smuggling charges for his role in smuggling primarily Eritrean
and Ethiopian undocumented migrants from Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
through South and Central America and Mexico into the United States.
Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O'Neil of the Justice
Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the
District of Columbia and Acting Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger
of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.
Merhay, 47, arrived in the United States on April 25, 2014, and made his
initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson
in the District of Columbia. He was indicted under seal in the District
of Columbia in 2012, and the charges were unsealed today. Merhay has been
in the custody of Moroccan authorities pending extradition since his arrest
in Marrakech, Morocco, in August 2013.
The indictment charges Merhay with one count of conspiracy to bring
undocumented migrants to the United States for profit and 15 counts of
unlawfully bringing an undocumented migrant to the United States for
profit. Court documents allege that Merhay operated with a network of
smugglers in Africa, the United Arab Emirates, South and Central America,
Mexico and elsewhere to coordinate and implement arrangements, including
providing fraudulent identity and travel documents, for undocumented
migrants to travel through Latin America and ultimately into the United
States without authorization. For up to $15,000, Merhay arranged for
individual undocumented migrants to travel from points in Africa to a house
or apartment in Dubai, where he provided travel documents, tickets and
instructions for meeting other smugglers while on the way to the United
States. Merhay coordinated the migrants' air travel to South America,
where they would meet with Merhay's associates, who would direct or guide
them across the various country borders. The undocumented migrants then
met with other smugglers associated with Merhay and were further guided
north to Mexico and then into the United States, sometimes by crossing the
Rio Grande River by raft.
The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel
Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice
Department's Criminal Division and ICE-HSI. The ECT program focuses on
human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or
public safety risks or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has
dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT
coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and
foreign law enforcement authorities.
The investigation was conducted by HSI Washington. This case is being
prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jay Bauer of the Criminal Division's Human
Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney
Frederick Yette of the District of Columbia. The extradition was handled
by Dan E. Stigall of the Criminal Division's Office of International
Affairs.
The Department of Justice and HSI expressed their appreciation for the
significant assistance provided by the Moroccan Ministry of Justice.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the
defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Received on Mon Apr 28 2014 - 20:17:39 EDT