Owner tells authorities he was ‘doing really bad on rent and all that,’ court documents show

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Phoenix resident who admitted to authorities he drove to the U.S.-Mexico border to illegally transport migrants is facing federal smuggling charges, court documents show.

Border agents in Sasabe, Arizona, said they noticed a “clean looking” Tesla Model 3 with a single occupant approach a dirt road near the border wall last week. The agents a few minutes later saw the Tesla coming back, covered in dust and with an occupant on the front passenger seat, court records show.

The Tesla – whose license plates showed no history of being in Sasabe before – headed away from the border along Service Road 286 and a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle began to follow. Court records show a Border Patrol vehicle stopped the Tesla and that its agents saw an individual dressed in camouflage lying on the backseat.

A search revealed three Guatemalan and Mexican citizens dressed in camouflage were inside the Tesla, including one named Javier Rubio Martinez, who was previously removed from the United States in 2018 for being in the country illegally.

A federal complaint alleges Eduardo Torres Jr., 30, admitted to federal law enforcement officials that he drove to Sasabe with the intent of picking up unauthorized migrants and drive them to Tucson, Arizona.

“Yeah, I know. This is my first time,” the complaint alleges Torres told law enforcement agents. “I was charging my car in Tucson, and I’ve been doing really bad on, like, rent and all that, bro.”

Torres is now facing a federal felony charge of transporting unauthorized migrants for financial gain and a federal misdemeanor charge of assisting unauthorized migrants avoid apprehension. Conviction carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years and a fine for the felony, and one year and fine for the federal misdemeanor.

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (Border Report) – Federal authorities believe they’ve broken a family-based crime ring that brought in, housed and transported undocumented migrants to the interior of the United States.

Six alleged members of the so-called Lopez Crime Family are in federal custody and four more remain at large in connection with a May 24 federal indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

The indictment charges Ronaldo Galindo Lopez Escobar, a.k.a. “Tio Roni” (Uncle Ron), with organizing and leading a transnational criminal organization with associates in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States.

It also charges Rosa Adriana Lopez Escobar, a.k.a. “Tia Rosa” (Auntie Rosa), with overseeing a network of mid-level smugglers who recruited foot guides, drivers and caretakers for the unauthorized migrants.

The other eight alleged conspirators – citizens of Mexico and Guatemala – are Jose Denilson Lopez Chilel, Jose Gianluca Lopez Perez, Junior Vanegas Portillo, Deysi Marisela Lopez Ambrosio, Mildred Yanira Lopez Ambrosio, Franklin Leonardo Chilel Ramirez, Carlos Chavez Hernandez and Sebastian Rolando Cortez.

The organization operated primarily in New Mexico, Arizona and California, but it also touched parts of Texas and transported migrants to Virginia and other states far from the U.S.-Mexico border, said Jorge H. Uribarri, assistant special agent with Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso.

“This is a two-year investigation. It starts with Border Patrol apprehensions and links several events through intelligence work. It is then that (criminal) cells are identified and that is how we get to this point,” Uribarri said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, the Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations announced the arrests and indictment Thursday in Las Cruces.

The indictment alleges that Uncle Roni coordinated the smuggling of Central Americans through Mexico and then the United States through southwestern New Mexico and other border enclaves.

Lopez Chilel, Lopez Perez, Vanegas Portillo, Chilel Ramirez, Chavez Hernandez and Rolando Cortez would transport and house undocumented migrants at Lopez Crime Family stash locations and, later, take them to their final destinations, the indictment alleges.

Deysi Marisela Lopez Ambrosio and Mildred Yanira Lopez Ambrosio would make peer-to-peer money transfers derived from smuggling fees to the various ring members on behalf of Uncle Roni, according to court documents.

The fact that several of the alleged co-conspirators are related is uncommon but not unheard of, Uribarri said. “It has to do with trust and secrecy. It gives confidence that secrecy will be maintained.”

Authorities encountered the group on Oct. 16, 2021, when the first of two vehicles driving in a caravan failed to stop on a roadway when U.S. Border Patrol agents tried to do a traffic stop, court documents show.

Federal investigators then documented a series of events that bared the breadth of the ring’s alleged activities. That included:

• The transportation of a migrant from a stash house in Phoenix to his final destination and the collection of a smuggling fee from a relative.

• The wire transfer of $9,200 to alleged accomplices in Guatemala.

• The pick up of a group of undocumented migrants from a Deming, New Mexico, location.

• And the driving of groups of migrants from New Mexico to the stash location in Phoenix, among many other events.

Uribarri said the vehicles used to transport the migrants were “nothing out of the ordinary,” referring to cars and vans. Without addressing the specifics of the investigation, he said when a smuggling ring is detected, the migrants being transported are usually questioned, identified and sent back to their countries.

The federal government is seeking forfeiture of the alleged smuggling ring’s assets, including money and vehicles used in the transportation of migrants.

Federal officials on Thursday urged the public to alert authorities if they suspect a human smuggling organization is operating in their neighborhood. Signs include large numbers of different people going in or out often, large amounts of garbage accruing or an excess of empty pizza boxes or other food deliveries.

You can call HSI as 866-347-2423.

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A New Mexico Democrat and an Arizona Republican are spearheading a congressional caucus to deal with issues unique to the Southwestern United States.

The issues the new Bipartisan Southwest Caucus will address include immigration and border security, economic development and trade, and conservation of public lands.

“From severe drought to strengthening infrastructure and trade, the issues that (U.S. Rep.) Gabe Vasquez and I face in our respective communities do not abide by party or state lines,” said U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona. “When we work together, we strengthen our districts, our states, and our region.”

Vasquez, a Democrat who represents Southern New Mexico, echoed those feelings.

“Our districts face many similar challenges and opportunities. Congress is at its best when we can find meaningful ways to work together,” Vasquez said in a news conference on Facebook Live. “By leading this caucus jointly, we will be able to bring together our colleagues and other Southwest lawmakers to advocate for our districts and beautiful Southwest communities.”

The two lawmakers have teamed up in the past to support bills of mutual interest such as the Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act, the Farm Workforce Support Act, and the World and Livestock Fairness Act.

Their respective districts border Mexico and include large Hispanic constituencies. Both lawmakers are native Spanish speakers who come from Mexican immigrant families and have led business associations. Both said that knowledge will help them lead discussions in Congress dealing with controversial topics such as immigration.

“I am an immigrant myself. I went through the process. I understand how it’s slow, bureaucratic and expensive. It took my family over a decade to get sworn in as citizens. I am very interested and improving the legal path to be here and that it reflects the needs of the workforce,” Ciscomani said. “At the same time, we have to prioritize the security on our border.”

Ciscomani advocates combatting the opioid drugs epidemic that claims more than 100,000 American lives every year and keeping track of “who the bad actors” are, including the Mexican drug cartels.

Vasquez, born in the U.S. and raised on both sides of the border, said Republicans and Democrats have found common ground in the past on key immigration and security issues.

“We have to make sure our ports of entry have the technology that they need to be able to scan properly all of the goods and also the illegal, illicit things that are coming across,” Vasquez said. “That’s a common area we would like to work on right away.”

The New Mexico congressman said he hopes the work of the caucus will “take some of the contempt out of the discussions” of recent months, which include immigration.

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Despite a huge drop in migrant apprehensions, the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol has added a new large-scale processing facility.

Sector Border Patrol Chief Scott Good on Tuesday shared a video of the new tent facility in Northeast El Paso. It is 360,000 square feet, sits on 28 acres off U.S. Highway 54 and can accommodate up to 2,500 migrants.

“El Paso Sector continues to prepare for potential increases in migrant encounters with the recent addition of our newest processing facility,” Good tweeted on Tuesday.

The facility has 24-hour onsite contracted security, and childcare, food and medical services, according to Border Patrol.

In January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a processing facility in the same general area capable of holding up to 1,000 migrants for processing. That facility was meant to alleviate overcrowding at the Central Processing Center near Hondo Pass Drive, also in Northeast El Paso.

But migrant encounters have dropped dramatically since then. So has the number of migrants in CBP custody awaiting processing.

Migrant apprehensions and the population at CBP processing centers in El Paso have fallen dramatically in the past five weeks, according to the City of El Paso’s migrant dashboard website. (City of El Paso)

Daily migrant apprehensions have fallen from 1,522 five weeks ago to 532 now, and the number of migrants in CBP custody is down from 5,554 to 1,145 in the same period, according to the City of El Paso’s Migrant Dashboard, which reflects CBP data.

Nonetheless, migrant advocates in El Paso hope the increase in Border Patrol holding capacity will speed up processing of asylum seekers.

“Anytime the us expands its capacity to process people faster and hopefully more humanely, that’s always a good thing,” said Imelda Maynard, director of legal services at Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services. “Our hope would be that it increases capacity so you can have more CBP One appointments a day and process people faster.”

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - A hearing for a new trial proposal takes place on Tuesday for the man convicted of the murder of his wife.

Joel Pellot was found guilty on March 30 and sentenced to life in prison for the death of his wife Maria Munoz.

According to the Webb County docket, Pellot’s attorney Roberto Balli filed a notice of appeal back in April.

The case was sent to the Fourth Court of Appeals in which Pellot is requesting a new trial.

A hearing was set for Tuesday, June 13 to go over the motion.

No word yet on the judge’s ruling.

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - At least two undocumented immigrants are taken into custody following an alleged human smuggling attempt in west Laredo Tuesday evening.

The incident happened at around 5:35 p.m. when agents received a call about suspicious activity near Markley and Anna Street.

Agents spotted the vehicle involved in the alleged smuggling attempt and deployed a vehicle immobilization device as the driver was attempting to flee.

Agents later found a vehicle abandoned near Ortiz and Santa Maria Avenue.

The agency said that two migrants were taken into Border Patrol custody.