Pakistani man pleads guilty in international human smuggling case after extradition to Arizona

PHOENIX — A Pakistani man who was extradited from Mexico to Arizona last year pleaded guilty Thursday to leading an international human smuggling ring, federal authorities said.

Abbas Ali Haider, 49, used two fake film production companies as a front while smuggling Pakistani nationals through Mexico and into California, Texas and Arizona, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Haider faces a sentence of three to 10 years years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for private financial gain and bringing in illegal aliens for profit. His sentencing hearing is set for July 30.

Prosecutors said Haider used his sham Pakistani companies — Diamond TV World Productions and Multimedia Advertising – to fraudulently obtain visas so the people he was smuggling could travel to Ecuador, Cuba and Colombia from September 2019 through September 2023.

His network then led people to Mexico and across the border into the U.S. He charged as much as $40,000 per person for the service.

A federal grand jury indicted Haider in May 2024 after a multi-agency investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations. He was arrested in Mexico in January 2025 after traveling from Pakistan in late 2024 and was extradited to Arizona in July 2025.

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