A Pakistani man pleaded guilty yesterday for leading an international human smuggling conspiracy that brought illegal aliens from Pakistan into the United States using sham film production companies.
According to court documents, Abbas Ali Haider, 49, of Sialkot, Pakistan, operated two fake Pakistan-based companies – Diamond TV World Productions and Multimedia Advertising Ltd. – to bring Pakistani nationals illegally into the United States. From approximately September 2019 through September 2023, Haider fraudulently obtained visas for Pakistani nationals to travel to Ecuador, Cuba and Colombia under the cover of legitimate business travel when their real destination was always the southern U.S. border. Posing as employees of Haider’s fake companies traveling to work on films, the Pakistani nationals were admitted to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Haider’s network then guided them to the U.S.-Mexico border where they illegally crossed into California, Texas, and Arizona. For this, Haider charged each person as much as $40,000.
Haider was extradited to the United States from Mexico in July 2025.
Haider pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for private financial gain and bringing in illegal aliens for profit. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 30, and faces a minimum penalty of three years in prison and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona, and Acting Special Agent in Charge, Kevin P. Murphy of HSI San Diego, made the announcement.
Homeland Security Investigations Calexico led U.S. investigative efforts, working in concert with HSI’s Brasilia, Quito, Tijuana, and Caribbean attaché offices and the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s International Interdiction Task Force; U.S. Border Patrol; the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Miami; and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Detroit provided substantial assistance. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of Haider.
The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant United States Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE/HSI and CBP/BP and OFO, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 455 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 400 U.S. convictions; and more than 350 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
Trial Attorney Bethany Allen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section on detail from the Office of International Affairs and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Kreamer Hope and Evan Wesley for the District of Arizona are prosecuting the case.