⏱ 2 min read
Western Texas is about to get a whole lot hotter for human smugglers and sex offenders. In a massive crackdown, federal prosecutors filed 281 new immigration cases, targeting those who’d bring others in – and those who’d hide out in plain sight.
At the center of it all: Encarnacion Lopez-Sanchez, aka Ignacio Hernandez-Gomez, a Mexican national accused of using a fake border crossing card to get into the US. But that’s not all – he allegedly used a fake work permit to land a job at an energy company in Crane, Texas. When investigators dug deeper, they found he’d been sending cash to Mexico.
In El Paso, a US citizen with a history of smuggling people – he got five years in prison for it – now faces federal charges. Yovani Garcia-Cruz allegedly drove smugglers to stash houses, sending proof-of-life videos to those who’d pay the price.
Another alleged smuggler, Erik Rangel-Martinez, tried to make a break for it – but not before getting caught up in a massive human trafficking sting.
Related Federal Cases
- Jonathan Smith-Byrd, Human Trafficking, Texas 2024 · Texas
- Juan Luis Mendoza-Iturralde, Human Trafficking, Texas 2023 · Texas
- Torrie Franklin, Human Trafficking, Texas 2020 · Texas
- Joint Task Force Alpha Targets Human Smuggling, Trafficking, Texas 2024 · Arizona
- Henry Licona-Larios, Human Trafficking, Texas 2021 · Texas
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Human Trafficking
- Defendant: Texas
- Location: TX
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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