IBNS-CMEDIA: A 39-year-old Bangladesh-born man has appeared in a US court following his extradition from Brazil after being charged with involvement in a human trafficking and migrant smuggling operation, officials said.
According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, a second superseding indictment has charged Saifullah Al-Mamun for his alleged role in a conspiracy to smuggle people from Bangladesh into the United States.
Court documents allege that Al-Mamun and his co-defendants — Mohamad Milon Hossain, 46, and Moktar Hossain, 38, both from Bangladesh — were part of a large-scale human smuggling network that helped facilitate the illegal entry of migrants into the United States.
Prosecutors said the group assisted other smugglers by arranging travel routes for scores of migrants from São Paulo in Brazil and other locations across South America, Central America and Mexico before they attempted to enter the US illegally.
“Al-Mamun housed aliens in São Paulo and arranged their travel, Mohamad Milon Hossain housed aliens in Tapachula, Mexico, and facilitated their transportation to Monterrey, Mexico,” the Justice Department statement said.
Moktar Hossain allegedly housed migrants in Monterrey and provided instructions on crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States.
“Many of the aliens had difficulty safely crossing the Rio Grande River. The aliens paid as much as tens of thousands of dollars to individuals in Bangladesh to help them travel illegally to the United States,” the statement added.
Al-Mamun was arrested in Brazil on October 31, 2019, before being extradited to the United States.
Both Mohamad Milon Hossain and Moktar Hossain pleaded guilty for their roles in the operation and were each sentenced to 46 months in prison.
Al-Mamun faces charges including conspiracy to bring migrants into the United States, multiple counts of bringing migrants into the country for financial gain, and conspiracy to encourage and induce illegal entry into the United States.
If convicted on all counts related to bringing migrants into the US for financial gain, Al-Mamun faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
If convicted of conspiracy to bring migrants into the country or conspiracy to encourage and induce illegal entry, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.
