Source: United States Attorneys General
Last night, extensive bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico resulted in the Mexico Attorney General’s Office “Fiscalía General de la República” (FGR) conducting a significant enforcement operation to dismantle a prolific transnational alien smuggling organization operating in Juarez, Chihuahua, along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The targeted alien smuggling organization, a group based in Juarez, Mexico, utilizes smuggling corridors centered in the Anapra, Chihuahua / Santa Teresa, New Mexico area, employs Mexican nationals, many of whom are current and former members of various Mexico-based cartels, and is alleged to be responsible for illegally smuggling large numbers of individuals, including children, from Central America into El Paso, Texas. The criminal organization is also alleged to have kidnapped aliens seeking to enter the United States illegally and extorted their families for money before completing their smuggling journey. The enforcement operation included the execution of two arrest warrants in Mexico for alleged alien smugglers Brian Alan Torres Gonzalez and Soledad Morales Nava. Torres and Morales are Mexican citizens and will be prosecuted in Mexico in part with evidence provided by the United States.
“On her first day in office, the Attorney General directed the Department of Justice to prioritize efforts to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and empowered Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) to increase their contributions to this fight,” said Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s action by Mexican authorities is the latest example of how JTFA provides critical contributions to marshal the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Department, and its law enforcement partners, to target human smugglers and enhance coordination in transnational law enforcement efforts to better combat these criminal organizations.”
U.S. authorities provided assistance to the Mexico Attorney General’s Office through coordination under JTFA, which, since its creation in 2021, has marshalled the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Department of Justice, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and Panama. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has elevated JTFA to the Office of the Attorney General, to be jointly supervised by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. The task force focuses on disrupting and dismantling smuggling and trafficking networks that abuse, exploit, and endanger migrants, pose national security threats, or are involved in organized crime. JTFA comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the border, along with dedicated prosecutor support by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; the Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training; the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section; the Office of Enforcement Operations; the Office of International Affairs; and the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 350 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of human smuggling; more than 300 U.S. convictions; more than 245 defendants sentenced, including significant jail sentences imposed; and substantial seizures and forfeitures of assets and contraband including millions of dollars in cash, real property, vehicles, firearms and ammunition, and drugs.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) El Paso assisted foreign investigative efforts in the United States, working in concert with the U.S. Border Patrol. Support from ICE HSI-Mexico City was critical in providing coordination between American and Mexican law enforcement agencies. The Justice Department — including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas in El Paso, HRSP, and the Office of the Judicial Attache in Mexico City — provided significant assistance in this matter.