U.S. Border Patrol Agents continue to apprehend large numbers of illegal aliens. With this large influx of apprehensions Agents are also identifying criminal illegal aliens attempting to enter undetected among the large groups.
On June 9, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent was conducting line watch duties on the Border Highway near Ascarate Park area. The agent spotted three subjects who had just made an illegal entry into the U.S. The agent approached the suspected illegal aliens and questioned them as to their citizenship. In an attempt to avoid apprehension, the three subjects began to assault the agent. Two out of the three illegal aliens were arrested. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was summoned to the scene and has charged two illegal aliens with assault of a Federal Agent. The U.S. Border Patrol charged them with illegal entry into the United States. Both subjects will be remanded to the El Paso County Jail awaiting their trials.
Two days later, agents from the Alamogordo Station where processing a group of illegal aliens and identified a male Guatemalan national with a criminal record. Luis Fernando Godoy-Chavirria’s record checks revealed that he had been arrested in Guatemala for homicide in February of 1987. The El Paso Sector Foreign Operations Branch (FOB), a program designed to help identify felons in Mexico and Central American countries, uncovered Godoy-Chavirria’s criminal history. The identification of Godoy Chavirria’s criminal record is a prime example of the bi-lateral communication and cooperation between the United States Government and Latin American countries. Godoy-Chavirria will be charged with Illegal Entry and booked into the El Paso County Jail.
On June 11, while processing illegal aliens in custody, El Paso Station agents identified Tatiana Elizabeth Gomez de Varela, a 33-year-old El Salvadorian female. Record checks revealed that Gomez de Varela had an extensive criminal history to include possession and transportation of firearms, drug smuggling, and bringing prohibited items into a penal institution. Gomez de Varela will be prosecuted for illegal entry.
In an additional incident, Lordsburg Station Agents identified an illegal alien with a prior conviction for homicide/murder. On June 12, record checks revealed that a Mexican national was previously arrested by Eagle County Sheriffs’ Office in Eagle, Colorado in November 2006. The subject was charged with homicide murder-2-attempt. The subject plead guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 10 years confinement. He was subsequently removed to Mexico. The male subject will be presented for prosecution of illegal re-entry of an aggravated felon into the United States. He will be held in custody to await trial.
Also on June 12, U.S. Border Patrol Agents, working in cooperation with El Paso Emergency Services recovered two bodies from the Franklin Canal. The two bodies appeared to have drowned in the American Canal. The El Paso Police Department will investigate the incident. Both recovered bodies were turned over to the El Paso County Coroner’s Office.
In a separate incident on June 12, agents assigned to the Deming Station foiled an alien smuggling attempt near Hachita, New Mexico. Agents arrested five subjects who were subsequently booked into the Luna County Detention Facility. During the intake process at the Luna County Detention Facility, Jose Eduardo Rodriguez-Aguirre, a 27-year-old Mexican national informed a detention officer that he was an active member of the Latin Kings street gang. Further questioning of Rodriguez-Aguirre revealed that he had been an active member of the Latin Kings since the age of 11. Moreover, Rodriguez-Aguirre displayed a tattoo revealing his affiliation to the street gang. Rodriguez-Aguirre will be prosecuted for illegal re-entry and will be held at the Luna County Detention Center pending the outcome of his case.
On June 13, agents from the El Paso Station arrested a group of 17 near downtown El Paso. Record checks revealed that one of the subjects, Celso Alexander Portillo-Rivera, a 33-year-old from El Salvador had an extensive criminal history to include a four-year prison sentence for robbery second degree out of California. Portillo-Rivera had been previously removed from the U.S. in 2016 from Del Rio, Texas. Portillo-Rivera will be prosecuted for illegal re-entry and will remain in custody at the El Paso County Detention Facility.
The men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol will continue to uphold the oath they made to this county by apprehending all of those who attempt to enter our country illegally.
