An enforcement operation conducted as part of a bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico has led to disruptions and arrests in human smuggling operations, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Mexico-based group allegedly utilized smuggling corridors centered in the Anapra, Chihuahua-Santa Teresa, New Mexico area to carry out their operations. The organization employs Mexican nationals, many of whom are either former or current members of various cartels, said the department.
The group “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.”
In the operation, arrest warrants were executed against two individuals alleged to be human smugglers. The Mexican nationals, Brian Alan Torres Gonzalez and Soledad Morales Nava, are set to be prosecuted in Mexico, with the United States providing evidence for the prosecution, the DOJ said.
Washington provided assistance to Mexico Attorney General’s Office under the Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). Created in 2021, the JTFA marshals resources from the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security to boost enforcement efforts against human smuggling and trafficking groups in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and Panama.
Cracking Down on Cartels
To date, JTFA is linked to arrests of more than 350 domestic and international individuals engaged in human smuggling.There have been more than 300 U.S. convictions, with more than 245 defendants being 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,” the DOJ stated.
Last month, two individuals were sentenced to 121 and 135 months in prison, respectively, for leading a human smuggling operation that conspired to illegally transport hundreds of foreign nationals into the United States. The defendants were investigated under JTFA.
In August 2024, a major enforcement operation in Guatemala led to the arrest of a human smuggler indicted by the task force. The defendant is alleged to have facilitated the travel of four individuals from Guatemala to the United States, three of whom ended up dying in a tractor-trailer, with the fourth suffering serious bodily injuries.
This includes Mexican groups Sinaloa cartel, the Gulf cartel, the Jalisco New Generation cartel, the United cartels, the La Nueva Familia Michoacana organization, and the Northeast cartel. In addition, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) were designated as terrorist organizations.
Terrorist designation of these groups allows the U.S. government to target their finances. Authorities can now pursue individuals who supply these criminal organizations with weapons. Moreover, the designation enables the U.S. military to strike at facilities operated by the cartels.
The recent designations were made after Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 that called on officials to evaluate classifying cartels and transnational gangs as terror groups.
“The cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs,” the order said.
