Border Patrol, Mexican authorities combine effort to prosecute human trafficker

The U.S. Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector Foreign Operations Branch (FOB), along with binational partners from the Mexican Attorney General Attaché’s Office (PGR) in El Paso, recently announced the conviction of Santos Villalva Celedonio for human trafficking of migrants.

The case was carried out under the Operation Against Smugglers Initiative on Safety and Security, which seeks to increase border security and safety as well as reducing deaths along the Southwest U.S. border, targeting immigrant smugglers and human traffickers operating in that immediate region.

The original apprehension of Villalva Celedonio occurred on Apr. 12, as Border Patrol agents stationed in Lordsburg, New Mexico arrested the 38-year old Mexican national. Villalva Celedonio was found traveling with 17 other individuals who made illegal entry into the United States, all of which identified Villalva Celedonio as the guide who led them into the country. Routine records checks showed that Villalva Celedonio had an extensive immigration history. While those facts were presented for prosecution of alien smuggling in the United States, the case did not proceed at that time. After the prosecution effort stalled, the arresting agents contacted Border Patrol’s FOB and informed them of the case.

Through FOB’s close working relationship with the PGR in El Paso, the two agencies were able to seek prosecution of Villalva Celedonio in his hometown of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua after more facts were discovered in his case.

After a trial by a Federal Court in the state of Chihuahua, Villalva Celedonio was sentenced to five years and four months in prison.

Officials connected to the case said it represented the first instance in the El Paso and Chihuahua area under Mexico’s new judicial penal system and will be used as a model when considering future cases.