334 more charged in new cases related to SDTX’s continuing efforts to secure southern border

HOUSTON – In support of Operation Take Back America, the Southern District of Texas has filed another 331 cases in immigration and border security-related matters from Jan. 16-22, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.  

The cases include charges against 18 people allegedly involved in human smuggling. A total of 104 criminal complaints were filed for illegal entry, while another 206 people face charges of felony reentry after prior removal. Most of those individuals have prior felonies such as narcotics, violent crime, immigration crimes and more. The remaining cases charged this week relate to other immigration crimes and smuggling of goods.

As part of the new matters, criminal complaints allege several individuals attempted to unlawfully reenter the country after they had already been removed within the last year. Mexican nationals Jorge Samuel Herrera-Elias and Abel Zambrano-Hernandez were previously removed Oct. 22, 2025, and Nov. 24, 2025, respectively, according to court records, while authorities removed El Salvadorian national Jasson Eduardo Canas-Membrano May 12, 2025. Each allegedly has prior felony convictions, including illegal reentry, injury to child/elderly/disabled with intended bodily injury or burglary of a habitation.

Further, authorities discovered Mexican national Juan Hernandez-Ramirez in the Roma area, according to his complaint. The charges allege he was previously removed August 2023 and has a prior conviction for sexual assault of a child.

All four now face up to 20 years in federal prison, if convicted

Also announced this week was the transfer of two alleged members of dangerous drug cartels to face federal drug trafficking charges. Juan Pedro Saldivar-Farias aka “Z-27” was allegedly a Los Zetas plaza boss and then regional commander of the northern region of Mexico, while Ricardo Cortez-Mateos aka “Billeton,” was a high-ranking member of Cartel del Gulfo, according to the charges. Separate indictments charge both men with participating in large-scale drug trafficking conspiracies operating along the U.S. – Mexico border. If convicted, they face up to life in prison.

In addition to the new cases, Penitas resident Diego Masiel Torres was ordered to federal prison for impeding federal law enforcement during a consensual worksite enforcement operation in Harlingen. Torres attempted to physically interfere by trying to remove the individual from custody and placing the law enforcement officer in a chokehold.

“There is, at present, an unfortunate belief that the public can freely obstruct law enforcement from carrying out their duties, and do so without consequence,” said Ganjei. “If you want to express your disagreement with a particular federal law or policy, there is a right way to do so, and a wrong way — and tangling with the police is one hundred percent always the wrong way. Today, Mr. Torres learned that lesson the hard way.”

Also announced was the sentencing of the owners of Abby’s Bakery and Dulce’s Cafe in Los Fresnos for employing and housing illegal aliens within their restaurant. Leonardo Baez-Lara and Alicia Avila-Guel hired and harbored workers who were in the United States illegally or on B1/B2 visas without having the right to work. The jury heard that employees were living in a storage area with only one exit, sleeping on mattresses and rarely had hot water.

These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations, ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations, Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

The 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 and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas remains one of the busiest in the nation. It represents 43 counties and more than nine million people covering 44,000 square miles. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from all seven divisions including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo work directly with our law enforcement partners on the federal, state and local levels to prosecute the suspected offenders of these and other federal crimes.

An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.