A Pakistani man has appeared in court in Tucson, Arizona, after being extradited from Mexico to face charges relating to his alleged role in leading an international alien smuggling organisation.
In May 2024, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned an indictment against Abbas Ali Haider, 48, of Sialkot, Pakistan, for conspiring to smuggle Pakistani nationals into the United States.
Haider allegedly operated two sham film production companies, Diamond TV World Productions and Multimedia Advertising Ltd., which were fronts for his alien smuggling organisation.
According to court documents, Haider used those Pakistan-based companies to contract with film companies in Ecuador, Cuba, and Colombia.
He then had those companies sponsor visas for Pakistani nationals purporting to work for Haider’s companies under the guise that they were working on a joint filming project in Latin America.
Haider provided the Pakistani nationals with phoney paperwork indicating that they worked for his companies, which they used at ports of entry in Panama, Brazil, and Colombia.
Haider coached the aliens to say they worked in the film industry to deceive and thwart customs and border officials.
Haider’s network of smugglers then assisted the Pakistani nationals in travelling to the US-Mexico border, where they illegally crossed into California, Texas, and Arizona. Haider has reportedly charged the aliens up to $40,000 for the trip.
It is claimed that Haider travelled from Pakistan to Mexico in late 2024 and was arrested in Mexico in January 2025 at the request of the US government. Extensive coordination and cooperation between US and Mexican law enforcement authorities resulted in Haider’s timely extradition.
Haider is charged with one count of conspiracy to bring illegal aliens to the United States and four counts of bringing in illegal aliens for profit. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, US Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona, and Special Agent in Charge Shawn Gibson of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Diego, made the announcement.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of Haider.
Trial Attorney Chelsea Schinnour of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant US Attorneys Jared Kreamer Hope and Evan Wesley for the District of Arizona are prosecuting the case.
According to Justice Department, this case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organisations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.