Multi-Agency Operation in San Antonio Results in Federal Charges

SAN ANTONIO – Two Honduran nationals made their initial appearances in a federal court in San Antonio today following criminal charges related to their alleged illegal re-entry.

According to court documents, Marcos Joel Contreras-Max and Edwin Javier Chinchilla-Lopez were arrested during a multi-agency operation that was conducted in San Antonio on the morning of Nov. 16. Individuals arrested were transported to the South Texas ICE Processing Center, where databases revealed that Contreras-Max and Chinchilla-Lopez were in the United States illegally and had previously been removed from the U.S. to Honduras on or about Aug. 1, 2023, and March 14, 2025, respectively.

Contreras-Max and Chinchilla-Lopez are each charged with one count of illegal re-entry. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The multi-agency operation was conducted by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), targeting suspected members of the foreign terrorist organization, Tren de Aragua. The operation resulted in the arrest of more than 140 individuals, who were taken into ICE custody for further investigation and immigration proceedings.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating the case.

This operation and its resulting arrests are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Antonio comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Border Patrol, IRS-Criminal Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the South Texas - High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

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

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