El Paso smuggler pleads guilty in boat disappearance that killed 40
A Colombian man pleaded guilty in El Paso on Monday in a human smuggling conspiracy that left 40 migrants and two boat captains missing at sea. Federal prosecutors said the case marks a major conviction in a smuggling route that stretched from Colombia through Central America and Mexico to the United States.
Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 41, of Colombia, also known by his alias “El Calvo,” entered the plea in federal court in El Paso, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Linero Pinto played a critical role in a prolific human smuggling conspiracy that used corruption and illicit means of transport to move aliens from Colombia to the United States for money,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “During the transport, dozens of people disappeared at sea, never to be seen or heard from again.”
Linero Pinto pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit immigrant smuggling and placing lives in jeopardy. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Justin R. Simmons, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said: “While we grieve the lives lost due to this defendant’s conduct, it is right and good to applaud the tireless work of our special agents and prosecutors that secured this conviction and to highlight yet another successful international partnership.”
“Human smuggling organizations, by definition, engage in cross-border operations, so they can only be dismantled through cross-border partnerships,” Simmons added.
According to the indictment and court documents, Linero Pinto advised migrants on how to reach San Andres Island, Colombia, where he received them, arranged their accommodation and brought them to boats bound for Nicaragua. The Justice Department said Linero Pinto bribed members of the Colombian Navy for real-time intelligence about the position of Navy patrol vessels between San Andres Island and Nicaragua, allowing the boats to avoid detection.
On Oct. 21, 2023, a boat carrying approximately 40 migrants and two boat captains disappeared en route to Nicaragua after leaving San Andres Island. Linero Pinto has admitted his role in smuggling the immigrants on that boat.
Linero Pinto was charged in October 2024 and arrested in Colombia in December 2024 at the request of the U.S. government. He made his initial appearance in federal court in El Paso in December 2025, the Justice Department said.
“Human smuggling organizations put profit over human life, exploiting vulnerable people and placing them in dangerous, often deadly conditions,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan G. McRae of Homeland Security Investigations El Paso.
HSI led the investigation, with assistance from its McAllen, El Paso and Cartagena field offices, the Justice Department said.
