Coyote Fees and Cartel Taxes: What Smuggling Really Costs

Getting to this question means someone has probably already named a price, to you or to a person you love. This page is for families who want to know where that money really goes, not how to pay it.

A "coyote" is a smuggler who takes money to move people across borders illegally. US court records and major news reports show fees from Central America and Mexico to the US of roughly $4,000 to $16,000 per person. In one 2025 US case, the fee was about $8,000, with $3,000 paid up front (US DOJ, 17 January 2025). Part of every fee goes to cartels, which charge smugglers a toll, called a "piso", to move people through territory they control. Homeland Security Investigations estimated cartel smuggling revenue at about $13 billion, up from $500 million in 2018 (New York Times, 25 July 2022). And the first price is rarely the last.

That is the short answer. The rest of this page follows the money, using court records, US government findings and investigative reporting.

Imagine you are a father in western Guatemala. A smuggler from a nearby town offers to take your 17-year-old son to his uncle in Virginia. The price is $14,000, "with three tries included". You pay a deposit. The rest is due "when he arrives". It sounds like a deal with rules.

This picture is hypothetical. The prices, the "tries" and the deposit all come from real cases below.

Key facts about smuggling fees

What a coyote is, and what the court record says

Families often think of a coyote as a local guide, someone from the next town who knows the way. Some still are. But US prosecutors describe something bigger: networks that hand people from one group to the next, share trucks and stash houses, and pay cartels for the right to operate.

In a Texas case sentenced in January 2025, members of the network called the people they moved "boxes," "packages," or "pieces." Two leaders were sentenced to 121 and 135 months in prison and ordered to pay money judgments of $942,537 and $438,119 (US DOJ, 17 January 2025).

A US Treasury finding about the Guatemala-based Lopez smuggling network shows the scale. Treasury says it charged "between $13,000 to $16,000 each" and "is believed to have generated between $104 million and $416 million in illicit proceeds" between September 2020 and 2023. It also "is known to purchase fraudulent Mexican documents and pay cartel fees" (US Treasury, 18 March 2025).

What the price includes

"Three tries"

Many smugglers sell a package with more than one attempt. The New York Times followed one man's journey in 2018: "As was customary, the smugglers would give him three tries." He ended up "$12,630 in debt" (New York Times, 30 June 2018). InSight Crime reported in 2021 that migrants "go into debt to pay the cost, which grants them two or three attempts" (InSight Crime, 19 March 2021).

Think about what that means. A package with three tries is priced on the expectation that you may be caught at least once. The smuggler is not selling success. He is selling attempts, and every failed attempt is your risk, not his.

Prices that keep going up

The price has risen for years. In 2018, the New York Times quoted US government figures: a decade earlier, migrants paid "between $1,000 and $3,000". "Now they hand over up to $9,200" (New York Times, 2018). By January 2025, Reuters reported that the price of one route had risen from about 85,000 to 140,000 Mexican pesos, and a smuggler said prices had gone up "in part due to more restrictions on the U.S. side" (Reuters, 24 January 2025).

When enforcement gets tighter, smugglers do not lower their prices or take more risk themselves. They charge more and push you onto more dangerous paths.

The cartel's cut: the "piso"

InSight Crime describes the "piso" as "a toll that large criminal organizations charge small or large ones that do not control the territory" (InSight Crime). In other words, the smuggler you pay must pay the cartel that controls the area.

What happens to people whose smuggler did not pay? InSight Crime reported that the Zetas cartel was "known for charging a tax, or a 'piso,' on smugglers", and for "killing, kidnapping and even forcibly recruiting the migrants who do not pay up" (InSight Crime).

The New York Times reported in 2022 that before about 2019, "independent coyotes paid cartels a tax to move migrants through territory they controlled". Since then, the paper reported, cartels have taken much more direct control of the business (New York Times, 25 July 2022).

Wristbands

In parts of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, the New York Times reported, "smugglers affix color-coded bands to the wrists of migrants to designate that they belong to them and what services they are receiving". One family wore "blue bracelets with the logo of the Gulf Cartel, a dolphin, and the word 'entregas'" (New York Times, 2022).

CBP told InSight Crime the bracelets appeared in south Texas around 2020, but officials "have not determined" what the different colours mean. InSight Crime's analysis is that they are "probably a way to" show that a person has paid to move through areas controlled by criminal groups (InSight Crime, 19 March 2021).

A wristband turns a person into inventory. It tells everyone on the route who owns you.

Ask yourself one question. If you need a cartel's permission to pass, what happens when the cartel decides you are worth more as a hostage?

When the fee becomes a ransom

The court record is full of cases where the agreed price was only the start.

• Houston, 2025. A father "paid $25,000 for their transportation from Guatemala" for two people. The stash house operator then "demanded an additional $32,500 in ransom" and threatened to "turn them over to the cartel". He was sentenced to 48 months (US DOJ, 28 August 2025).
• McAllen, 2023. Smugglers "screamed 'immigration'" at a group of migrants, steered 47 of them into vehicles, "contacted the families for additional funds", and "sold them to members of a third alien smuggling organization". The leader received a total of 251 months (US DOJ, 30 November 2023).
• Mexico, 2025. Reuters spoke to a Honduran man who was "kidnapped by a gang" and "beaten for three days until his relatives paid $1,000" (Reuters, 24 January 2025).

Our guide to stash houses and ransom calls covers more of these cases, and what families can do when the call comes.

When the debt follows you

Smuggling debts do not always end at the border. In some US cases, the debt turned into forced labour.

• Forks, Washington. A woman was "saddled" with "significant debt upon arrival" and told she "would work off the debt by picking salal". Her traffickers added charges "for food, housing, transportation", kept her ID and threatened her with deportation. One was sentenced to three years for forced labour (US DOJ, 27 April 2018).
• Marion, Ohio. Guatemalans, some "as young as 14 or 15", were smuggled into the US and forced to work up to 12 hours a day on egg farms. The leader was sentenced to 188 months (US DOJ, 27 June 2016).

This is how smuggling turns into trafficking. Read the warning signs of human trafficking and our guide to migrant labour exploitation and your rights.

Who gets caught

US prosecutors do go after smugglers. The Justice Department's Joint Task Force Alpha, which targets smuggling networks from Mexico to Colombia, had produced "more than 458 domestic and international arrests", "more than 408 U.S. convictions" and "more than 357 significant jail sentences" by June 2026 (US DOJ, 11 June 2026).

But a conviction does not give a family its money back, and it does not undo a death. In the 2022 San Antonio case, 53 people who had paid $12,000 to $15,000 each died in a trailer. See the San Antonio trailer case.

What the same money could buy legally

Compare a smuggling fee with legal routes. Government visa fees are published, fixed and paid to the government, with a receipt. Nobody charges you a ransom halfway through.

• For seasonal farm work in the US, the employer files an H-2A petition for you. The US Labor Department certified 398,258 H-2A positions in fiscal year 2025 (US DOL).
• For other seasonal jobs, the H-2B visa works the same way. USCIS says that "no job placement fee" or other fee related to the job may be collected from an H-2B worker, and it will deny or revoke the petition if one is (USCIS). Anyone selling you a US seasonal job for cash is breaking those rules.
• If you have close family who are US citizens or permanent residents, a family petition may be possible.

Our guide to human smuggling vs legal migration compares smuggling fees and legal costs in five corridors. And beware: smugglers often pose as "recruiters" or "agents" who promise a work visa. If someone asks for cash for a US job, read how to avoid immigration scams first.

To see the whole route, from the Darién Gap to the stash house, read how people get into the US illegally.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a coyote charge to cross into the US?

Documented fees from Central America and Mexico range from about $4,000 to $16,000 per person. A 2025 US court case showed a fee of about $8,000, with $3,000 paid up front. The US Treasury found a Guatemalan network charging $13,000 to $16,000. Ransom demands on top of the fee are common.

What is the cartel "piso"?

The piso is a toll that a criminal group charges smugglers for moving people through territory it controls, according to InSight Crime. One smuggler told Reuters his network spent at least $800 per migrant paying off cartels. Migrants whose smugglers do not pay can be kidnapped or worse.

What does "three tries" mean in smuggling?

Some smugglers sell packages that include two or three attempts to cross, because many people are caught. Reuters reported in 2020 that a fee of $7,000, or double that, often included two or three attempts. People often borrow to pay, and stay in debt if they fail.

Why do migrants wear coloured wristbands?

The New York Times reported in 2022 that smugglers in parts of Tamaulipas, Mexico, put colour-coded wristbands on migrants to show which group they belong to and what services they paid for. CBP said it had not confirmed what each colour means.

How much money do cartels make from smuggling?

Homeland Security Investigations estimated, as reported by the New York Times in 2022, that cartel smuggling revenue had grown to about $13 billion, up from $500 million in 2018. The US Treasury estimated one Guatemalan network alone made between $104 million and $416 million from 2020 to 2023.

Do you get your money back if you are caught?

Usually not. The packages documented by Reuters and the New York Times sell attempts, not a result, so the smuggler keeps the money even if you are caught. Many families borrow against land or houses, and the debt remains whatever happens.

Related guides

• How People Get Into the US Illegally, and How It Ends
• Stash Houses: Inside the Ransom Business on the US Border
• San Antonio Trailer Deaths: What Happened to the 53 Migrants
• Human Smuggling vs Legal Migration: Costs, Penalties, Risks
• Migrant Labor Exploitation: Warning Signs and Your Rights
• How to Avoid Immigration Scams: Red Flags to Know