U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico Weekly Immigration and Border Crimes Report

ALBUQUERQUE – Today, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced its immigration enforcement statistics for this week. These cases are prosecuted in partnership with the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, along with Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, and assistance from other federal, state, and county agencies.

In the one-week period ending April 4, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office brought the following criminal charges in New Mexico:

• 56 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S.C. 1326)
• 11 individuals were charged this week with Alien Smuggling (8 U.S.C. 1324)
• 32 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Entry (8 U.S.C. 1325)

Many of the defendants charged pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1326 had prior criminal convictions, with some of those convictions being for aggravated felonies, including convictions for solicitation of a child through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct, leaving the scene of an accident with fatality, and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine

In a significant case highlighting the use of fraudulent documents and the transportation of undocumented individuals, criminal charges were brought against Juanita Martinez, a U.S. citizen, and Aldo Arvizu-Chaparro, a Mexican national. Martinez entered the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in New Mexico accompanied by Arvizu-Chaparro, who presented a falsified birth certificate and claimed to be a U.S. citizen. Martinez falsely asserted that Arvizu-Chaparro was her son. During secondary inspection, agents discovered that the birth certificate was fraudulent and confirmed that Arvizu-Chaparro did not have legal authorization to enter the United States. As a result, Arvizu-Chaparro is facing prosecution for using a false document, while Martinez is being prosecuted for transporting an undocumented individual.

In a similar case, Abel Banuelos-Rojas is charged with using fraudulent identification to attempt entry into the United States. Banuelos-Rojas presented a U.S. passport card that did not belong to him and admitted during questioning that he is a Mexican citizen illegally residing in the United States. He further disclosed that he had assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen in 1983 by paying $150 for fraudulent identity documents. Banuelos-Rojas is being prosecuted for using a false passport, paralleling Arvizu-Chaparro's case in terms of utilizing deceptive documentation to attempt illegal entry.

The issue of smuggling undocumented individuals also arose in the case against Jose Manuel Castillo-Gastellum, a Mexican national charged with transporting illegal aliens. Castillo-Gastellum was apprehended while guiding six undocumented individuals through the desert in southwestern New Mexico. Among those he was guiding, two women were suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion, necessitating emergency medical attention and hospitalization. Castillo-Gastellum's criminal history includes prior apprehensions as both a drug mule and an alien smuggler during his juvenile years. He admitted to successfully smuggling ten undocumented individuals to the same location just days before his arrest in this case.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. [use if applicable] Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

These statistics represent prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico only. The numbers do not include individuals apprehended by immigration enforcement officials and subjected solely to administrative process.

Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for the District of New Mexico. Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.

The District of New Mexico consists of 33 counties and shares 180 miles of international border with Mexico.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys from Albuquerque and Las Cruces work directly with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to prosecute immigration-related and other federal offenses.