The New York Post reported yesterday that federal prosecutors have charged Francisco Antonio Luna Rosado, a 27-year-old migrant from the Dominican Republic, as the leader of an international human smuggling ring.
The ring, consisting of roughly 70 members, conspired to illegally transport at least 48 migrants — including young children — from Central and South America into the U.S. via the northern border. Migrants were flown into southern Canada, then coordinated through an encrypted messaging app using cellular location data to link up with smugglers. They were smuggled across into northern Vermont and driven south to destinations including New York City and other U.S. locations.
A key incident occurred on September 17, 2023, when driver Jesus Hernandez Ortiz (37, from Puerto Rico) was stopped by law enforcement around 4 a.m. while transporting a dozen migrants in a Home Depot van. The group included two children: a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old. Ortiz claimed he had picked them up in a Canadian field and didn’t know who they were.
The operation ran from August 2022 to March 2024, with proceeds exceeding $10,000 allegedly laundered by Luna Rosado.
Luna Rosado, currently in Ocala, Florida, is being transported for detention in Vermont’s federal district court. Prosecutors describe him as a flight risk and request pretrial detention. Ortiz is on conditional release and scheduled for an initial court appearance in Burlington, Vermont, on February 17, 2026.
The article notes a sharp decline in northern border crossings (e.g., 95% drop in the Vermont-Canada sector from March 2024 to March 2025) and mentions NYC’s high costs (over $5 billion) for migrant services as broader context.
For more, see the New York Post.