February 2, 2026El Paso, TX, United StatesNarcotics, Human Smuggling/Trafficking

5 of 37 fugitives expelled from Mexico were targets of ICE El Paso investigation into foreign terrorist organizations

EL PASO, Texas — Five of the 37 fugitives expelled from Mexico into the U.S. on Jan. 20 were subjects of an ICE Homeland Security Investigations probe into cells of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa Cartel. Both organizations are designated as foreign terrorist organizations known for trafficking narcotics and weapons, smuggling migrants into the United States, and repatriating bulk cash to Mexico.

"These arrests demonstrate the power of international cooperation in dismantling transnational criminal organizations that threaten our communities," said HSI El Paso acting Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho. "HSI El Paso and our law enforcement partners are committed to bringing fugitives to justice and protecting the safety and security of the United States."

The government of Mexico arrested the individuals pursuant to arrest warrants following indictments in the Western District of Texas. The fugitives were expelled to San Antonio, where the U.S. Marshals Service took them into custody.

HSI El Paso worked closely with its Homeland Security Task Force/Joint Task Force-A partners, including the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the ATF, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Border Patrol.

The following individuals, all Mexican nationals, face federal charges:

Maria Del Carmen Navarro Sanchez, Luis Carlos Davalos Lopez and Gustavo Castro-Medina are charged with providing material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations, narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, bulk cash smuggling and human smuggling.
Humberto Rivera-Rivera is charged with narcotics trafficking. Rivera-Rivera, a leader of a Sinaloa Cartel faction in Valle de Juarez, Chihuahua, was arrested in February 2025 pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant supporting a 2018 indictment in the Western District of Texas.
Roberto Gonzalez-Hernandez, a high-ranking Los Cabrera Cartel member, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, alien smuggling and possession of a firearm during a drug offense. HSI Presidio, DEA El Paso and FBI El Paso investigated the case, which involves current and former members of La Linea, a Juarez Cartel faction operating in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico.

All 37 fugitives expelled from Mexico face a range of federal charges nationwide, including narcoterrorism, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, firearms trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering, and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine.

Among those taken into U.S. custody are prolific human smugglers, violent arms traffickers and alleged members of dangerous drug cartels, including organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), Cártel de Golfo, the Gulf Cartel, La Linea and the former Beltrán-Leyva Organization.

The transfer marks only the third time that Mexico has used its National Security Law to expel fugitives to the United States. It is also the largest transfer of fugitives to occur — the first transfer, on Feb. 27, 2025, involved 29 fugitives, and the second, on Aug.12, 2025, involved 26 fugitives.

Read more at Justice.gov.

Updated: 02/03/2026