Homeland Security Task Force Wrapped Up the Prosecution of Seven Illegal Aliens from Guatemalan that Smuggled Aliens into the United States

TULSA, Okla. - The last of seven illegal aliens from Guatemala was sentenced for working together and being paid to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States from Guatemala, Mexico, and other countries in Central or South America, including Asia.

From October 2021 through April 2025, the ringleader, Cidia Marleny Lima Lopez (Cidia), conspired with the defendants and other individuals throughout the United States, Guatemala, and Mexico to conceal, harbor, and transport unlawful aliens in the United States. Those aliens were from various countries in Central America, South America, and Asia.

Court documents show that Cidia used a social media application to coordinate payment to conspirators in Guatemala in exchange for transportation. The aliens were transported from Guatemala and housed in Mexico until they could cross the United States-Mexico border unlawfully. Once inside the United States, drivers and stash house operators in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas would conceal the alien. Cidia admitted that the drivers would collect payment at her direction and transport the aliens to various stash houses in Oklahoma, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

The indictment filed in April 2025 alleged that each alien would pay roughly $5,000 to be smuggled into the United States. All money collected from the aliens being transported was deposited into bank accounts accessible to Cidia and others. She then admitted to using those funds to purchase vehicles and real estate property. Court records show that Cidia forfeited three trucks and two ATVs that were seized during the execution of a search warrant in Oklahoma City on April 24, 2025. Additionally, Cidia is forfeiting all interest and property contained in two separate homes in Oklahoma City and three different properties in Sequoyah County.

The following defendants were sentenced for Conspiracy to Bring and Transport Aliens in the United States Illegally for Private Financial Gain:

• Cidia Marleny Lima Lopez, 40, living in Charlotte, North Carolina, was ordered to serve 33 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, Cidia Lima Lopez forfeited her interest in the $5,000 obtained from smuggling aliens into the United States.
• Ottoniel Castro Argueta, 33, the husband of Cidia, also living in Charlotte, North Carolina, was ordered to serve 51 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, Castro Argueta forfeited his interest in the vehicles and properties listed above.
• Veronica Maribel Lima Lopez, 34, living in Oklahoma City, was ordered to serve 12 months and one day imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release. Additionally, Veronica Lima Lopez forfeited her interest in the vehicles listed above and $5,000 obtained from smuggling aliens into the United States.
• Ariz Obdulio Argueta, 30, living in Clarksville, Arkansas, was arrested in April 2025 and released in March 2026 after being ordered to time served. Obdulio Argueta was additionally ordered to three years of supervised release and forfeited his interest in the $5,000 obtained from smuggling aliens into the United States.
• Pedro Cucul Gualna, 26, living in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, was arrested in April 2025 and released in April 2026 after being ordered to time served. He was additionally ordered to one year of supervised release.
• Carlos Enrique Ramos Caal, 31, living in Flagstaff, Arizona, was arrested in April 2025 and released in March 2026 after being ordered to time served. Ramos Caal was additionally ordered to two years of supervised release

Additionally, Cesar Rodolfo Garcia Argueta, 21, living in Clarksville, Arkansas, was sentenced for Attempt to Bring an Alien to the United States Illegally from Private Financial Gain. He was arrested in April 2025 and released in March 2026 after being ordered to time served. Garcia Argueta was additionally ordered to three years of supervised release and forfeited his interest in the $5,000 obtained from smuggling aliens into the United States. Charges against Esvin Alexander Rodriguez Luis, 27, living in Oklahoma City, were dismissed in October 2025.

All of the defendants were unlawfully present in the United States. They are expected to be deported after removal proceedings following their sentences.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

HSTF Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Flagstaff, and Charlotte offices comprise of agents and officers from the Tulsa, McAlester and Greensboro, North Carolina Drug Enforcement Administration field offices; the Tulsa and Oklahoma City IRS field offices; the Tulsa and Oklahoma City U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations field offices; and the U.S. Marshals offices in the Northern District of Oklahoma, with the assistance of several state law enforcement agencies. The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Nasar from the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McConney from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado, with assistance from the Western District of Oklahoma, the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the Middle District of North Carolina, and the Western District of Arkansas.