CLINT, Texas- Border Patrol Agents assigned to the El Paso Sector arrested two known sex offenders and a gang member in west Texas and New Mexico over the weekend.
The first incident occurred just after midnight Saturday as agents from the Clint Station were conducting line watch duties east of the Tornillo Port of Entry. Agents first located foot sign leading north of the international boundary. Using tracking skills, they followed footprints from the banks of the Rio Grande River to a nearby private orchard. The tracks led to 12 subjects attempting to hide in the brush. The subjects were taken into custody and transported to the Clint Border Patrol Station for processing.
There it was soon discovered that 46-year-old Juan Antonio Martinez Dominguez, a citizen of Mexico, had a previous arrest on March 27, 2015 for “Sexual Battery” by the Oklahoma City Police Department. Martinez Dominguez served two years in jail before being detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Fugitive Operations Task Force, and had been deported on December 23, 2015.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol Agents in Santa Teresa and Lordsburg, New Mexico arrested two subjects with prior felony convictions. In Santa Teresa, agents tracked and apprehended a group that crossed the international boundary. Agents found during processing that 37-year-old Miguel Angel Perez Mendez, a citizen of Mexico, had an extensive criminal history which included: convictions for “Assault, Cruelty toward Wife, Sex Offense Against Child-Fondling, Obstruction Court Order, Possession of a Weapon, Intimidation, Aggravated Assault-Gun and Amphetamine-Possession.” Perez Mendez is being detained pending formal removal proceedings.
Finally, Agents in Lordsburg arrested an active member of a prison gang who has an extensive criminal history. The incident unfolded when Horse Patrol Agents located footprints in a notorious area for illegal crossings. Agents followed the tracks leading north from the border. After an extensive two-hour search, six subjects were found trying to hide in desert brush. All of them admitted to being in the U.S. illegally.
Jorge Toledo Villanueva, 31, was one of those who was apprehended. Lordsburg agents determined through records checks that he was a citizen of Mexico with a history of illegal crossings, and known gang affiliations.
Villanueva’s criminal history revealed he had been previously deported in 2015 after serving time earlier in prison for 48-months on a drug charge. His previous conviction related to “Possession with intent-Cocaine HCL” in Michigan. In 2009, he was also convicted for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, also in Michigan. Villanueva’s previous order of removal was reinstated, and he was charged with “Re-Entry” as an aggravated felon.
