Federal authorities in Texas ramp up enforcement with nearly 250 new cases filed in one week, targeting illegal immigration, human smuggling, and violent crimes amid intensified border security efforts
Houston, Texas – Federal authorities in the Southern District of Texas have filed nearly 250 new cases in a single week as part of ongoing border enforcement efforts. U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced that 245 individuals face charges tied to immigration violations, human smuggling, and assaults on federal officers, underscoring the district’s intensified crackdown on unlawful border activity.
Of those charged, 115 individuals are accused of illegally re-entering the United States after deportation. Many of these defendants have prior felony convictions, including crimes involving narcotics, violent offenses, sexual misconduct, and previous immigration violations. Another 118 face charges of illegal entry, while 10 cases involve alleged human smuggling operations. The remaining cases pertain to firearms violations and assaults against law enforcement officials.
One of the more alarming cases involves Santos Demetrio Marquez-Hernandez, an El Salvadoran national who was previously convicted of contact with a minor for sexual purposes. Marquez-Hernandez had been deported from the U.S. on January 8, yet authorities arrested him again after allegedly re-entering the country. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.
Human smuggling operations were also a focal point of this week’s enforcement actions. Authorities arrested Juan Daniel Pena and Jose Cristian Cantu Jr. after they allegedly attempted to transport 15 undocumented individuals past a Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita.
According to the charges, the individuals—hailing from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Vietnam—were concealed inside two trucks secured to a flatbed trailer. Five of them had previously been ordered removed from the U.S. and now face additional charges for illegal re-entry.
In another case, an Arkansas man, Noel Mercado, was found guilty of smuggling illegal aliens in a highly dangerous manner. A jury convicted Mercado on two counts of alien smuggling after a brief trial, during which evidence showed that he attempted to transport individuals in modified wheel wells and an auxiliary fuel tank beneath a truck bed. Law enforcement officers discovered four undocumented individuals crammed into these compartments during a routine inspection using an X-ray scanner.
Authorities also charged Gerardo Hervey Rodriguez-Toscano, a Mexican national, after he allegedly attempted to evade border security at the Hidalgo port of entry. Rodriguez-Toscano reportedly sprinted from the Mexican side and tried to bypass U.S. authorities before being subdued after a brief struggle. A law enforcement officer sustained injuries to his wrist, knee, and elbow during the encounter. If convicted, Rodriguez-Toscano faces a potential prison sentence of up to eight years.
Further complicating enforcement efforts, officials arrested a Honduran man, Elger Fabricio Cotto-Navarro, who allegedly attempted to pass himself off as a minor to gain entry into the U.S. Cotto-Navarro initially claimed he was born in May 2007, but authorities determined he was actually born a year earlier. After initially denying any wrongdoing, he later admitted to providing false information about his age and making misleading statements to immigration officials.
These cases were pursued with the support of multiple federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), among others. State and local law enforcement agencies also played a key role in the investigations.
The prosecutions fall under Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative focused on border security, dismantling transnational criminal networks, and combatting illegal immigration. The program consolidates resources from multiple federal law enforcement task forces to target human trafficking, drug smuggling, and violent crime associated with unauthorized border crossings.
The Southern District of Texas remains one of the busiest federal jurisdictions in the country, covering 43 counties and serving a population of over nine million people. Prosecutors from all seven divisions—including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, and Laredo—continue to coordinate with law enforcement partners to combat border-related crimes.
With heightened enforcement and aggressive prosecution strategies, officials emphasize their commitment to securing the border and preventing criminal activity linked to unlawful migration. The latest round of arrests and charges reflects the district’s determination to disrupt smuggling operations and hold repeat offenders accountable under federal law.
