CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck announced 446 people face charges in support of Operation Take Back America from April 10 to April 16.
The charges include 169 individuals accused of illegal entry and 242 who allegedly re-entered the United States after prior removal. Authorities also accused 33 people of engaging in human smuggling and charged three others with firearms crimes. Many of the individuals have prior convictions for narcotics, violent crime, sexual offenses, and other immigration violations.
Among the recent cases, authorities charged Yahaniel Somoza of Houston and Fidel Cantu-Mendez of Edinburg with human smuggling. The charges allege Somoza picked up individuals on at least two occasions and transported some to a local mechanic shop. Somoza allegedly took some of their cell phones and instructed them to eat only twice a day. Law enforcement executed a search warrant and discovered 15 people at the mechanic shop. Somoza faces up to 10 years in federal prison upon conviction.
In a separate case, Cantu-Mendez allegedly picked up several individuals near the Rio Grande in Escobares. The charges allege Cantu-Mendez drove recklessly and told the occupants to run once the vehicle stopped, leading to a foot chase. Authorities apprehended Cantu-Mendez and 13 individuals near the vehicle. Cantu-Mendez faces up to five years in federal prison.
Authorities also charged Andrei Eduardo Mayorga Oliva and Julian Flores-Molina with unauthorized reentry into the United States. Law enforcement found Oliva, a Honduran national, near Alamo. The criminal complaint alleges Oliva has a prior conviction for carnal knowledge of a child and served a three-year prison sentence before his removal in May 2025.
Law enforcement encountered Flores-Molina, a Mexican national, near Donna after his previous removal in June 2024. The charges allege Oliva has prior convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated robbery, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and illegal reentry, having served substantial time in prison. Both men face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
In addition to the new cases, Operation Pick-Off efforts continued with more people taken into custody in the Houston area. The Southern District of Texas initiative targets individuals with criminal records who are on state probation or supervision. The operation began in August 2025 in the Rio Grande Valley with federal charges against nearly 70 people. The effort has expanded to all divisions, resulting in continuous rolling arrests of foreign nationals from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala with various convictions, including murder.
Authorities also sentenced Francisco Gerardo Garcia-Arzola, a Mexican national, to 30 months in Brownsville after he illegally reentered the country for a third time. Authorities previously removed Garcia-Arzola in 2012 and 2024 before taking him into custody in June 2025. Garcia-Arzola has multiple previous convictions for possession and manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance.
Federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, supported the cases alongside state and local partners.
Operation Take Back America is a nationwide Department of Justice initiative aimed at addressing illegal immigration, eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protecting communities from violent crime.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas represents 43 counties and more than 10 million people. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, and Laredo work with law enforcement to prosecute federal crimes.
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