News Releases and Statements

As detailed in pleadings filed prior to the hearing, during the afternoon and evening of May 1, 2021, smugglers in Puerto Neuvo, Baja California, Mexico, shuttled undocumented migrants from the beach to a location approximately two hours offshore near the Coronado Islands where Hurtado and his 40-foot boat – named the “Salty Lady” – were waiting. Those individuals – including three unaccompanied minors – had agreed to pay between $15,000 and $18,000 to be smuggled into the United States illegally.

Matthew Dylan Ramirez, 20, of Tempe, and Jesus Madrid-Varela, 19, of Mexico, will be sentenced Nov. 1, before United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso SAC Frank Burrola explains HSI’s critical role in an investigation into a Guatemala-based human smuggling network at a news conference Aug. 4, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.

As the United Nations prepares to commemorate World Day Against Trafficking in Persons July 30, a team of U.S. federal investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) are in Frankfurt, Germany, this week to train German law enforcement counterparts on the latest investigative techniques to combat human trafficking.

According to court documents, Jose Luis Vega-Arzate, 31, from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, drove into the Border Patrol checkpoint north of Laredo, May 11. At initial inspection, he displayed nervous behavior and had trouble shifting gears.

According to court documents, on May 24, Marthin Rueda Alcorta, 36, drove a tractor trailer into the BP checkpoint north of Laredo. He drove erratically through an inspection lane and nearly hit a K-9 until authorities ordered him to stop. Agents conducted a search of the trailer and discovered 110 people in his trailer; all later determined to be illegally present in the country from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, both from Palestine, Texas, were charged in a federal indictment with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death; one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death; one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy; and one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

The operation, dubbed “Operation Games STOP” (Strategic Trafficking Operation), targeted human exploitation-related offenses, drug trafficking, and other public safety threats in the lead up to The World Games hosted in the Birmingham metro area.

According to court documents, on June 14, Crawford approached the BP checkpoint north of Laredo. A K-9 allegedly alerted to Crawford’s trailer. Upon further inspection, authorities discovered 80 noncitizens in the non-refrigerated trailer that Crawford was hauling.

Vince Ruiz III, 32, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Texas to one count of transporting undocumented migrants within the United States.

Nelson Bahena-Garcia, a 43-year-old undocumented migrant residing in Mission, was sentenced in the Southern District of Texas for conspiracy to commit hostage taking which resulted in death.

The individuals arrested were identified as Jesus Gabriel Villela-Duran, 28, of Mexico, Salvador Lopez-Vargas, 36, of Mexico, and Eleazar Soto-Diaz, 34, of Mexico. Between the two residents in southwest Phoenix, nearly 100 individuals were identified as citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras – all waiting for further transport within the United States.

Adonis Baker, 37, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and Inkosi Grandberry, 40, received a 10-year sentence, followed by five years of supervised release.

As the Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office announced, Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, was arrested June 29 on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in noncitizen smuggling resulting in death, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324.

Dedrick Lindell Coleman, 49, from Desoto, was sentenced June 28 by a federal judge to serve 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

On June 12, a passing motorist reported discovering two bodies on the eastbound on-ramp of Interstate 10, several miles east of Van Horn, Texas. Fingerprint checks identified the two individuals as Rosenda Gomez-Lopez, a Guatemalan national, and Edgar Vividor-Rodriguez, a Mexican national.

On June 10, Sergio Trevino, 35, was sentenced to 214 months in prison. On March 31, 2021, Trevino pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a federal officer and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence. Trevino was sentenced to 94 months in prison on the assault charge and 120 months on the use of a firearm charge with both sentences to run consecutively.

Emigdio Gonzalez-Gamboa, 33, was arrested at his Anthony, New Mexico, home and charged with harboring undocumented noncitizens by members of the HSI El Paso Santa Teresa (New Mexico) Human Smuggling Group.

Border Patrol agents contacted HSI special agents, who located the child and the smuggler before they departed El Paso by bus. The child was reunited with her mother. The alleged smuggler, Rubye Ramos, 23, was arrested for transporting an undocumented noncitizen.

The offenses included conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise; conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion of a minor; various violent crimes in aid of racketeering offenses including kidnapping and assaults with dangerous weapons; sex trafficking including of minors; and firearms offenses; all arising from their membership and association in a violent gang called “The Sevens,” which took control and operated out of a 50-room boarding house on South 4th Street in the City of Reading.

Leonardo Davila Jr., 24-year-old resident of Mission, Texas, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to smuggling 73 people while driving an 18-wheeler.

Last week, results from an undercover operation dubbed “April Fools” aimed at targeting alleged sexual predators was announced by local law enforcement in partnership with ICE's HSI.

A south Texas federal jury returned two separate and unrelated indictments which involve transporting and/or smuggling of large groups of noncitizens via tractor trailers, following an investigation conducted by ICE's HSI with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol, Laredo Sector.

Isaiah Lorenzo Brinkley, 21, of Phoenix, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 75 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Brinkley previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport noncitizens for profit, placing life in jeopardy and resulting in death.

Roderick DeWayne Chisley, 47, of Monroe, Louisiana, was convicted May 11, following a three-day trial. The jury deliberated for over three hours before convicting Chisley.