Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
SAN ANTONIO – United States Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 231 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Aug. 1 through 7.
Among the new cases, an Ecuadorian national was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass and charged with illegal re-entry. The defendant, Christian Patricio Murillo-Orellana, was previously deported to Ecuador on April 22 through Alexandria, Louisiana. Murillo-Orellana is a convicted felon, sentenced in 2024 to 195 days confinement for unlawful possession of a weapon and simple assault in Plainfield, New Jersey.
A Honduran national with a prior felony conviction was also arrested by USBP and charged with illegal re-entry in Eagle Pass. Leo Dan Olivera-Hernandez was previously deported to Honduras on Nov. 8, 2024. He was convicted in March 2022 for first degree burglary in Raleigh, North Carolina and sentenced to 44-65 months in prison.
In El Paso, Mexican national Isreal Garcia-Ibarra was arrested and charged with illegal re-entry after he was located nearly five miles east of the Ysleta Port of Entry. Garcia-Ibarra was previously removed to Mexico for the second time on April 5 through Nogales, Arizona, following a March conviction for domestic battery in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jorge Alberto Lopez-Casique, also a Mexican national, was allegedly found trying to hide in the Chihuahuita Park near the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry on Wednesday, Aug. 6, after being deported from the U.S. to Mexico on July 21 through Del Rio. Prior to that removal, on June 20, Lopez-Casique was convicted in Dallas and sentenced to six months confinement for two felonies—theft from person and kidnapping.
Multiple illegal aliens were arrested this week for charges related to alleged human smuggling schemes involving storm drains. In one case, Andres Castaneda-Luna was one of seven illegal aliens who El Paso Police officers allegedly observed exiting a storm drain on Aug. 1. According to a criminal complaint, Castaneda-Luna has worked with an alien smuggling organization as a foot guide for approximately two years and, on this occasion, was smuggling a group of illegal aliens through the storm drain tunnel for $100 per person. Immigration records indicate Castaneda-Luna had been granted a voluntary return out of the U.S. on Oct. 30, 2023.
On Aug. 4, USBP agents allegedly observed two individuals attempting to pry open a grate connected to a storm drain a mile and a half east of the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry in El Paso. A criminal complaint alleges that the individuals were identified as Javier Obregon-Flores and Jorge Solis-Soto, and both were determined to be Mexican nationals. The complaint alleges that Obregon-Flores became combative with the agents and attempted to flee on foot toward Mexico. Both were placed under arrest and charged with human smuggling conspiracy. The complaint alleges that Obregon-Flores and Solis-Soto were working with a smuggler and worked together with the intent of cutting rebar to further facilitate smuggling of illegal aliens.
These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.
These cases are 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 organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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