Federal agents across Texas reported a string of high-profile arrests and convictions this week involving cartel-linked juveniles, a Honduran national sentenced for importing child sexual abuse material into the country, and an alleged father-son gun trafficking operation.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks claimed in an October 23 post on X that “the cartel is recruiting juveniles to do their dirty work,” after agents in Brownsville apprehended four teenagers allegedly attempting to smuggle 245 pounds of marijuana into the United States.
According to Banks, one of the teens, just 15 years old, was a repeat offender tied to the Gulf Cartel and had been apprehended multiple times. “The drugs were seized, and the four teens will be charged and processed accordingly,” Banks wrote, attaching an image of four large parcels wrapped in plastic and bound with tan ropes.
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The Brownsville case comes amid concern over the exploitation of minors by transnational criminal organizations.
Honduran Sentenced for Importing Child Sexual Abuse Material
In a separate case in Del Rio, a Honduran national was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to import child sexual abuse material through the Eagle Pass port of entry.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said in a press release that 32-year-old Nolber Rolando Rosales-Rosales was stopped at the Camino Real International Bridge on October 7, 2024. Customs officers reportedly found images of young girls on his phone and discovered that he maintained a Telegram account used to store six videos depicting child sexual abuse.
Rosales-Rosales pleaded guilty in April to one count of use of a visual depiction of a sexually explicit depiction of a minor for importation into the United States. U.S. District Judge Ernest Gonzalez sentenced him to a decade in prison on Thursday.
Rosales-Rosales was initially detained without bond following his arrest last October and required a Spanish-language interpreter for court proceedings, according to PACER records.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Fleming, Nallely Duarte, and Daisy Gonzales. Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation.
The press release indicated that the case falls under 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.”
Father and Son Charged in Firearms Smuggling Scheme
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas announced Tuesday that two men from Alabama had been arrested and charged with smuggling hundreds of firearms into Mexico.
48-year-old Emilio Ramirez Cortes, a Mexican citizen living legally in the United States, and his son, Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, allegedly attempted to move more than 300 rifles, pistols, magazines, and ammunition through the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo on October 23, according to a press release.
Authorities claimed both men were driving separate vehicles, a Chevrolet Tahoe with Alabama plates and a Chevrolet Silverado with Mexican plates, towing enclosed box trailers that contained false walls concealing the weapons.
“Disrupting the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico is a key part of our whole-of-government approach to dismantling the cartels,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei added that “those that illegally traffic guns to Mexico empower cartels to terrorize the innocent.”
Investigators with Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Customs and Border Protection led the probe. Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly conducted multiple smuggling runs in exchange for payment.
Both men remain in custody pending a detention hearing on October 31. A criminal complaint is a formal accusation and not evidence of guilt.
Federal Communications Freeze
Due to the ongoing government shutdown, most official social media accounts for border security and immigration enforcement agencies in Texas are currently closed, including Border Patrol sectors and ICE field offices, and are not posting real-time updates on enforcement actions.
As a result, The Dallas Express has temporarily altered the format of Texas Takedown Weekly to rely more heavily on court filings, archived press releases, and verified statements from law enforcement officials until normal communications resume.
Texas Takedown Weekly is a recurring series from The Dallas Express chronicling significant immigration-related arrests, narcotics seizures, and enforcement actions across the state.
To read last week’s edition, click Texas Takedown Weekly: Illegal Alien Arrested In Dallas For Alleged TikTok Threat To Kill ICE Agents
