Three illegal aliens from Guatemala have been indicted in Ohio for smuggling children into the United States, the federal government announced this week.
Maritza Azucena Cahuec Coc, 38, and Carlos Agustin Cahuec Coc, 33, allegedly took part in an international alien smuggling operation from December 2020 to October 2023 while illegally living in Cleveland. The indictments allege they brought unaccompanied alien children to the U.S. by filing fraudulent applications for sponsorship of refugees with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Yesterday in Ohio, indictments were returned charging three illegal aliens from Guatemala for international smuggling of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) and defrauding the government, while another illegal alien was sentenced to prison for smuggling a UAC to the U.S. in 2023… pic.twitter.com/boV5umbAeF
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 11, 2026
The third person charged, Gladys Marina Caal Chen, 20, was smuggled into the U.S. from Guatemala as part of the operation, and allegedly lied to authorities about her sponsorship application.
The U.S. Department of Justice also said another illegal alien from Guatemala, Juan Tiul Xi, pleaded guilty in a separate case for his role in smuggling a minor into the U.S., fraudulently sponsoring them, and then sexually abusing the child.
“For too many years, under the prior administration, unaccompanied children were smuggled to the United States and then taken in by a mismanaged government program guided by reckless policy direction,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “Instead of protecting children, these defendants and others allegedly took advantage of the program and used it to entice the illegal smuggling of unaccompanied children to the United States and, as the sentence of Tiul Xi shows, leave them vulnerable to sexual assault, trafficking, and other exploitation.”
Three illegal aliens from Guatemala were just charged for allegedly smuggling more than a dozen children into our country by abusing loopholes under Joe Biden.
Another Guatemalan was also convicted for smuggling a teen girl, whom he then sexually assaulted.
More Democrat heros pic.twitter.com/y2W0bNcYVq
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 11, 2026
Maritza Azucena Coc, who was arrested on May 22, faces charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S., conspiring to induce illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens, and identity theft. She faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Carlos Cahuec Coc, Maritza’s brother, was arrested on May 28 and found with a 16-year-old “unaccompanied alien child.” He faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of conspiring to encourage and induce illegal entry.
Caal Chen was found by authorities at Maritza Azucena Coc’s residence when she was arrested on May 22. She faces up to five years for lying to law enforcement at the time of her arrest, “by providing yet another alias.”
“We will not tolerate criminals that use deceptive and fraudulent practices to deliberately abuse our immigration programs for their financial gain,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio David M. Toepfer said in a statement.
“If your business plan is to smuggle others into our country for a profit — especially children — you will come face to face with a federal judge for violating our country’s laws,” Toepfer added. “We owe a debt of gratitude to the federal investigators who brought this dark truth to light taking place right here in Northern Ohio. We will aggressively prosecute these alleged crimes and bring those responsible for such actions to justice.”
Xi, who was living illegally in Cuyahoga County, was convicted of sexual battery of a child and is serving eight years in state prison. He also pleaded guilty to inducing illegal entry, identity theft, and making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement.
