The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico reported that it brought 7,099 criminal cases in 2025 related to southern border enforcement. The charges included illegal reentry, alien smuggling, immigration fraud, and false statements. Of these cases, 152 involved drug trafficking.
Additionally, the office prosecuted 32 cases involving individuals without lawful status found in possession of firearms. This effort was described as advancing national security objectives by enforcing federal firearm prohibitions.
In the civil realm, the office managed a substantial workload in 2025, including handling 82 civil habeas corpus matters.
“These cases show how criminal organizations exploit people for profit, move violence across borders, and poison communities with drugs and weapons,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison. “In New Mexico, we are focused on identifying the leaders, dismantling the networks they rely on, and using federal prosecutions to disrupt these operations at every level.”
Several notable cases were highlighted:
– In United States v. Diana Perez et al., law enforcement responded to a hostage situation in Otero County and found multiple individuals—including children—being held against their will after being smuggled into the country. Organizers required additional payments from families before releasing victims. Valerie Perez received a ten-year federal prison sentence; Alan Amaya pleaded guilty.
– United States v. Alejandro Villalobos-Torres involved a victim who was smuggled into the U.S., held for ransom across Texas and New Mexico stash houses, and rescued in Chaparral in November 2022. Villalobos-Torres was arrested in March 2025; proceedings continue.
– In United States v. Jorge Alberto De La Cruz-Dominguez et al., defendants ran a large-scale human smuggling operation moving up to 40 people per week between Santa Teresa, El Paso, and Albuquerque using stash houses and driver transfers across state lines. Seven were arrested in February 2025; all but one have pleaded guilty.
– United States v. Nan Zhang et al. involved charges against an Albuquerque couple accused of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and money laundering connected to rental properties used as stash houses.
Other significant prosecutions included indictments against suspected members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang on racketeering charges; dismantling a major fentanyl trafficking organization resulting in large seizures of drugs and assets; and charging a former magistrate judge with evidence tampering related to gang activity.
These actions are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative created by Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF coordinates efforts among government agencies to target criminal cartels, gangs, transnational organizations, human smuggling rings operating domestically and abroad—with particular attention given to crimes involving children—and uses all available means to prosecute violent criminal aliens.
