Rachel C. Hernandez Acting United States Attorney for the District of Arizona | U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona
Greiby Melissa Barcelo-Velasquez, a 39-year-old Colombian national, received a 30-month prison sentence last week. United States District Judge John J. Tuchi presided over the case, in which Barcelo-Velasquez was charged with conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the United States.
The case presented by federal agents revealed that over 100 individuals had been smuggled illegally into the United States through Arizona, using the network operated by Barcelo-Velasquez. Since mid-2023, Barcelo-Velasquez ran Baul Travel SAS, a travel agency based in Colombia. Investigations into her activities began towards the end of the same year by the United States Border Patrol Sector Intelligence and Homeland Security Investigations after several Colombian nationals named her as their smuggling coordinator.
Details from the investigation show that Barcelo-Velasquez met with Colombian nationals in Colombia, charging them fees and misleading them with the narrative that their travel to Mexico was for vacation. These individuals were required to pay additional fees in U.S. currency to her associates at airports in Cancun or Mexico City for bribes to ease their transit. Upon arrival in Hermosillo, Mexico, they were directed to stash houses near the U.S.-Mexico border. These locations housed people from various countries awaiting illegal entry into the United States. The final leg of their journey involved being ferried, often by armed men, to the border for illegal crossing.
The case's resolution was part of the efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has expanded its mandate to combat human smuggling and trafficking by targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia. JTFA's workforce includes personnel from U.S. Attorneys' Offices along the southern border, supported by multiple sections of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
To date, JTFA's operations have led to more than 355 domestic and international arrests, over 320 U.S. convictions, and in excess of 265 significant jail terms, alongside the seizure of substantial assets. The Customs and Border Protection’s United States Border Patrol Sector Intelligence Unit, together with Homeland Security Investigations, conducted the investigation in this case. The prosecution was managed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart Zander and Adriana Genco from the District of Arizona, Phoenix.
