Pakistani man extradited from Mexico to Arizona to face human smuggling charges

PHOENIX – A Pakistani man was recently extradited from Mexico to Arizona to face charges in a federal human smuggling case, authorities said.

Abbas Ali Haider, 48, made his initial appearance in a Tucson courtroom on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In May 2024, a federal grand jury indicted Haider on one count of conspiracy to bring or attempt to bring aliens to the United States and four counts of bringing in illegal aliens for profit.

Haider was arrested in Mexico in January of this year after traveling from Pakistan in late 2024, prosecutors said.

He faces a penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

How prosecutors described human smuggling operation

The defendant is accused of using two fake film production companies as a front while smuggling Pakistani nationals into the U.S.

Prosecutors said Haider’s fake Pakistani companies contracted with film companies in Ecuador, Cuba and Colombia to sponsor the people he was smuggling.

The Pakistani nationals were provided with phony paperwork to get into Panama, Brazil and Colombia and then allegedly smuggled into Arizona, California and Texas through Haider’s network.

The human smuggling case is part of a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to thwart illegal immigration called Operation Take Back America.

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