00:00Earlier this year, federal prosecutors and agents with the Homeland Security Task Force
00:05noticed a disturbing trend. Stolen vehicles owned by private individuals and rental car companies
00:11were being brought from across the country to El Paso and being crossed into Mexico.
00:17Based on this observation, agents and AUSAs, including AUSAs John Johnston and Andy Ortega
00:23here in El Paso initiated Operation Southbound Takedown. As I said, the investigation revealed
00:31that cars were being stolen from across the country and El Paso was the major crossing point for these
00:35stolen vehicles. Cartels that were ultimately using these vehicles were recruiting US citizens
00:41and those otherwise able to legally cross from the United States into Mexico and vice versa.
00:48The HSTF here in El Paso worked closely with law enforcement in other cities, including Phoenix,
00:53Denver and Orlando, and also worked with the rental car companies to try and stop this scourge of
00:59vehicle theft that was inflicting harm on so many Americans. To date, 13 individuals have been
01:05indicted as a result of this operation, including 11 United States citizens and two Mexican nationals,
01:12one of which was a lawful permanent resident and another who was a border crossing cardholder. Each
01:18of these individuals face up to 10 years in prison for interstate transportation of stolen property.
01:25To date, 29 vehicles have been seized. Seven vehicles were seized in Mexico and 22 here in the United
01:32States. The estimated value of these vehicles is 1.1 million dollars. So those are the facts.
01:39But why do we care? Why do we care about this particular type of crime?
01:43Well, this particular type of crime creates a major convenient inconvenience to those that are afflicted
01:49by it and creates a major disruption to the American economy. This kind of crime results in higher
01:56insurance premiums for all of us and losses to rental car companies in the hundreds of thousands,
02:01if not millions of dollars losses, which are then passed on to those who rent cars for these companies,
02:06which results in increased rates for all of us. The trickle down effects of this type of crime are
02:13significant. So that's one reason we care. But we also care because these cars go to support the
02:19operations of Mexican drug cartels, including foreign terrorist organizations like La Linea and the
02:26Sinaloa Cartel, which operate in and around Juarez. They use these vehicles to facilitate murder and the
02:33disposal of their own countrymen to smuggle humans, including children into the United States, many
02:39of whom who are later extorted as they're held in stash houses in US neighborhoods right here in El Paso
02:46and elsewhere across the country. They also use these vehicles to smuggle guns into Mexico and ultimately,
02:52as we all know, to traffic drugs into the United States, including dangerous drugs like fentanyl,
02:57which has caused the death of thousands of Americans and caused misery and suffering for
03:03thousands more who have family members trapped in the prison of addiction. Thankfully, under President
03:11Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche, the days of a weak America are gone because make no mistake,
03:17the cartels want a weak America. But again, those days are gone. God help us if we ever again grow
03:24indifferent to the suffering of our own fellow Americans, like some countries have done. But again,
03:31that's not happening anymore. So this is why we care. Cartels are one of the largest vectors of harm to
03:38Americans, both economically and personally. So our message is this, for those being recruited
03:45by these organizations, the likelihood is high that you're supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
03:51And if we can prove it, we will hit you with those charges. We will hit you with material support
03:57of
03:57a foreign terrorist organization. And regardless, we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
04:04Ultimately, we as US law enforcement are here to protect Americans and their God given right to life,
04:12liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And if you get in the way in that mission, we will take you
04:18down.
