Four people accused of being part of a major migrant smuggling ring in Phoenix were indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday.

The indictment alleges that Gustavo Villalobos Rios, Ediberto Hernadez Pineda, Omar Ramirez Martinez, and Jennifer Amancha Gonzalez conspired to hide illegal aliens. They allegedly transported dozens of migrants who avoided capture from the border wall to one of two Phoenix locations.

According to a federal criminal complaint, the defendants took away the migrants’ phones and made them stay barefoot in a packed bedroom that they could only leave to use the restroom. They also asked for thousands of dollars to free them and threatened to murder them after one of them ran away.

Villalobos was the main leader of the Pajaro HSO (human smuggling organization), according to U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations agents. They arrested him and his girlfriend Amancha, who they claim was also a “top-tier coordinator,” on November 27, 2023.

Other defendants told the court that Villalobos, who went by the nickname “El Exito” (Success), hired them and instructed them on how to run the main stash house on West Rancho Drive with up to 35 migrants. A car that belonged to Villalobos in Arizona had been in a high-speed chase in Pinal County where four undocumented migrants were caught.

According to court records, migrants who were held as material witnesses at the Phoenix stash house recognized Villalobos as the person who wielded an AK-47 style rifle and allegedly said he would kill them in anger after finding out that one got away.

A material witness reported that Villalobos waved the rifle at them and shouted that they could not leave until someone paid for the man who escaped. “You guys don’t want me to stay here because I don’t mess around!” Villalobos said, according to the witness.

Villalobos went to a deposition this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Z. Boyle in Phoenix and asked for a Spanish interpreter. He has been detained without bond because he has a prior criminal history that is not specified; he is also an undocumented non-citizen and a flight risk, records show.

The migrants who testified as material witnesses – Edgar Cuxum Tecu, Edvin Palanco, and Dani Perez Moro – were released by the judge so they could go back to their home countries. Villalobos gave up his right to question the witnesses, according to records.

The defendants are waiting for their next court appearances.