200 Federal Immigration Cases Filed in the Western District of Texas This Week

SAN ANTONIO – Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 200 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Feb. 13 to Feb. 19, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. Charges were brought against human smugglers and illegal aliens with past convictions for sex crimes, violent crimes, drug trafficking, DWIs, and multiple prior removals.

Among the new cases, U.S. citizens Arturo Reyes and Anthony Joseph Scalza were arrested west of Tornillo on Tuesday. U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered three illegal aliens, identified as citizens of Guatemala and El Salvador, hiding in a pecan orchard. A criminal complaint alleges that the agents obtained consent to search the subjects’ cell phones, which led to direct communication with a driver arranging to pick up and transport the three aliens. The complaint alleges Reyes and Scalza arrived in two separate vehicles at an agreed upon location to pick up the aliens but were instead met by USBP. Reyes and Scalza are each charged with one count of alien smuggling.

Guatemalan national and felon Julio Lucas Santos-Santos was found nearly 11 miles west of the Tornillo Port of Entry on Tuesday. On Feb. 28, 2023, Santos-Santos was convicted of rape in the first degree in Queens, New York. He was removed from the U.S. to Guatemala through Louisiana in July 2025.

Guatemalan national Edgar Gutierrez-Perez, who was deported for the fourth time in August 2025, is again facing an illegal re-entry charge after being found east of the Fort Hancock Port of Entry. In 2024, Gutierrez-Perez was convicted in Georgia for one count of battery family violence and one count of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 114 days in federal prison following his illegal re-entry conviction last year in the District of New Mexico.

Mexican national Angel Eduardo Zamora-Yanez was found and arrested approximately a quarter of a mile west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, having been previously deported for the eighth time in September 2025. In 2023, Zamora-Yanez was convicted of assaulting a peace officer and was sentenced to three years in jail. He has also been convicted once for improper entry and thrice for illegal re-entry.

In Austin, Honduran national Isman Manuel Garcia-Ozorto was found to be a previously removed alien whose most recent deportation was in August 2017. Garcia-Ozorto was convicted of evading arrest in 2012, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assault causing bodily injury in 2013, possession of a controlled substance in 2016, and improper entry by an alien in 2017. He is now charged with one count of illegal re-entry.

Ever Rivera-Molina, also a Honduran national, was encountered at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center in San Antonio following his arrest for a DWI on Feb. 8. He was turned over to the custody of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations after it was found that his immigration records indicated he was previously removed from the U.S. in October 2022. In 2019, Rivera-Molina was convicted and sentenced for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

On Monday, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Mexican national Jose Octavio Medrano-Adame near Maverick. Medrano-Adame was deported for the second time in December 2025. In 2013, he was convicted of deadly conduct discharge of a firearm and sentenced to four years confinement.

Cuban national Rolando Portales-Zambrano was arrested near Maverick for illegal re-entry after just being removed from the U.S. to Mexico through Harlingen on Jan. 28. Portales-Zambrano has multiple convictions in his criminal record, including two separate felony convictions for smuggling of persons, assault causing bodily injury to a family member, and failure to give ID or intent to give false information as a fugitive.

Mexican national Audelio Salmeron-Gomez, who has been convicted of four DWIs including one with a child under 15 years old, was arrested for illegal re-entry near Terrell. His most recent DWI conviction came in June 2024 and resulted in an eight-year prison sentence. That case also included a conviction for assault causing bodily injury to a family member. He was subsequently deported from the U.S. to Mexico approximately one year later, in August 2025.

Mexican national and convicted felon German Ceniceros-Briones was arrested near Maverick for illegal re-entry, having been previously deported for the second time in March 2017. Ceniceros-Briones was convicted in 2004 for one count of delivery of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance. For those charges, he was sentenced to 10 years confinement. In 2015, he was convicted of illegal re-entry and served 27 months of confinement.

Isaac Sanchez-Enriquez, also a felon, was arrested for illegal re-entry near Maverick. The Mexican national was deported for the fourth time in September 2023. He has been convicted of two drug trafficking felonies, one improper entry by an alien for his first immigration conviction and was convicted on two separate occasions for illegal re-entry.

These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

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.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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