Two Mexican Nationals Arrested for Alleged Train Cargo Theft and Repeated Reentry into United States Following Deportation

LOS ANGELES – Two men from Mexico who are in the United States illegally have been charged in a federal criminal complaint with stealing cargo from a freight train traveling through the Mojave Desert and taking approximately 71 cases of construction tools, the Justice Department announced today.

Jesus Omar Lopez Quintero, 34, and Juan Alonso Hernandez Enrique, 24, both Mexican nationals, were charged Thursday with possession or receipt of goods stolen from interstate shipment, removing goods from customs custody and breaking seals, and illegal reentry into the United States following deportation.

During initial appearances Thursday afternoon in U.S District Court in downtown Los Angeles, a federal magistrate judge ordered them detained and scheduled their arraignment for February 25.

“This case demonstrates the threat that transnational criminal theft organizations pose to our nation’s commerce, as well as the danger posed to trains and their operators,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally. “Our office will aggressively prosecute those who repeatedly violate our laws and ensure they face consequences in the criminal justice system.”

According to the criminal complaint, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBSD) received a call for a suspicious vehicle parked near train tracks in Barstow on the night of January 28.

When law enforcement arrived, they observed a white cargo van driving away from a stopped freight train and a shipping container with its doors open. After following the vehicle, law enforcement turned on their sirens and lights and the white cargo van drove into oncoming traffic and kept driving before eventually pulling off to the side of the road. Quintero and Enrique then exited the vehicle and ran into the desert.

SBSD officers took Quintero into custody after he fell while running, and Enrique soon after was discovered hiding in bushes.

Inside the cargo van, authorities discovered approximately 71 cases of Milwaukee Tools with an estimated wholesale value of approximately $16,307. Law enforcement also recovered approximately 13 cases of Milwaukee Tools on the side of the train tracks, next to the open container, with an estimated wholesale value of approximately $7,792.

Quintero – who has been deported from the United States to Mexico a total of five times from 2013 to 2024 – was previously convicted of illegal entry into the United States in 2013, 2022 and 2023. Enrique was deported from the United States to Mexico in November 2022 and again the next month.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted of all charges, Quintero and Enrique each face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the possession or receipt of goods stolen from interstate shipment, up to 10 years in federal prison for the removal of goods from customs custody and breaking seals, and up to two years in federal prison for illegal reentry into the United States following deportation or removal.

Homeland Security Investigations and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Sophia Carrillo of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.