The Trump administration is charging an illegal alien business owner in Arizona for knowingly employing other illegal aliens in his food truck business.
Federal prosecutors hit illegal alien business owner 42-year-old Blademir Angulo Audeves with several crimes after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) took him into custody in Phoenix early this month.
The Mexican national, is believed to have hired at least a dozen illegal aliens to work at his restaurant chain, Taqueria El Taco Loko. Every single one of his workers, federal authorities say, were in the country illegally.
He now <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/border/2025/07/15/trump-admin-cracks-down-on-employers-hiring-illegal-aliens-in-arizona/">faces</a> several federal charges, including the Harboring of an Illegal Alien, Knowingly Employing Unauthorized Aliens, Improper Entry by an Alien, and Alien in Possession of a Firearm.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
&#8220;A West Phoenix taco shop owner is in federal custody tonight, accused of knowingly hiring a dozen illegal immigrants at his business.&#8221;
&#8220;The owner of the shop is accused of smuggling and hiring people who are not American citizens.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/glzY5BBKSu">pic.twitter.com/glzY5BBKSu</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945116353360224602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
Angulo Audeves first entered the United States illegally in 2011 and voluntarily left the country in May of 2021 after receiving departure orders, but returned just months later in August of the same year.
Authorities also raided the home of Angulo Audeves, with prosecutors saying that the illegal alien was found to be in possession of three firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, violating federal law.
Court documents indicate, according to <a href="https://www.azfamily.com/2025/07/12/phoenix-taco-shop-owner-accused-harboring-employing-illegal-migrants/">one report</a>, that the Mexican illegal alien paid the smuggling costs for some of his employees, fronting $12,000 a piece to traffic the illegal alien workers into the United States with the expectation that they would pay him back.
The case is not the only time that federal authorities under the Trump administration have arrested illegal alien workers and their employers. ICE and HSI <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-and-homeland-security-busts-8-illegal-aliens-and-the-business-owners-they-say-harbored-them">arrested</a> eight illegal aliens who worked at a bakery on the border in Texas in February. The bakery’s two owners were also apprehended and charged with felonies, with federal authorities accusing them of harboring illegal aliens.

ICE Agent

Trump Admin Charges Business Owner For Hiring Illegal Alien Workers

Border

cartel

Department of Homeland Security

Deportations

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

U.S.

The Trump administration identified three Mexican financial institutions that it says are complicit in laundering funds on behalf of criminal cartels that traffic fentanyl into the United States.
Two banks and one brokerage firm, which collectively manage $22 billion in assets, were identified by the Treasury Department on Wednesday as key players in the cartels’ fentanyl trafficking operations. The federal agency specifically accused the three institutions of laundering millions of dollars on behalf of the cartels and facilitating payments for the precursor chemicals for fentanyl, and now prohibits American financial institutions from carrying out certain transactions to and from the three Mexican institutions.
“Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0179">charged</a>.
“Through the first use of this powerful authority, today’s actions affirm Treasury’s commitment to using all tools at our disposal to counter the threat posed by criminal and terrorist organizations trafficking fentanyl and other narcotics.”
The Treasury Department specifically explained that a CIBanco employee authorized the creation of an account by a Gulf Cartel member who purportedly intended to launder $10 million. The executive agency also warned that the bank has a “long-standing pattern of associations, transactions, and provision of financial services” with the Gulf Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and the Beltran-Leyva Cartel.
Intercam executives are believed to have met with CJNG members to discuss money laundering schemes, which included processing transactions to and from China. Mexican companies also used Intercam to send more than a million dollars to a Chinese company with ties to an individual who shipped fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexico.
Vector is similarly believed to assist in the procurement of those precursor chemicals on behalf of both the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels. The federal agency asserts that a money launderer working on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel moved $2 million through Vector from 2013 to 2021.
The move marks another step in the Treasury’s campaign to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-treasury-official-reveals-how-the-trump-admin-is-choking-off-cartels-cash-flow?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Treasury+Official+Lays+Out+How+Trump+Is+Choking+Off+Cash+Flow+To+Cartels">choke off funds</a> from the criminal cartels. The agency has unveiled numerous sanctions against leaders and personnel from the Sinaloa Cartel, Tren de Aragua, and Cartel del Noreste.
“If the money is not flowing back south, then there’s less of an incentive to bring the drugs and the guns and some of the illicit activity up to the north,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender told The Daily Wire.

Fentanyl

Trump Admin Sets Sights On Mexican Banks Laundering Fentanyl Cash For Cartels

Department of the Treasury

drug cartel

Mexico

Treasury

An illegal alien and suspected member of foreign terror organization Tren de Aragua has been charged with attempted murder of a federal officer after he violently resisted arrest and attacked FBI and Homeland Security agents.
The 30-year-old Venezuelan illegal alien Gabriel Hurtado-Cariaco was hit with the federal charge after he attacked an FBI agent and Homeland Security Investigations agent who attempted to apprehend him in Bellevue, Nebraska.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) explained that Hurtado-Cariaco violently resisted arrest, injuring one agent when the illegal alien sent the agent’s head slamming against the pavement. The suspected Tren de Aragua member also placed one agent in a chokehold during the altercation, not letting go until the other agent placed Hurtado-Cariaco in a chokehold.
“Deadly violence against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi charged. “We have charged this illegal alien with attempted murder.”
After the attack, Hurtado-Cariaco fled on foot before being successfully captured by the federal agents at his apartment. The injured agent was then transported to the hospital.
&#8220;Federal law enforcement officers are tasked with enforcing the laws of the United States and they must be able to do so safely,” U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods said. “These federal agents maintained their professionalism while being met with potentially fatal violence. Despite sustaining injuries, the agents did not give up and made a successful arrest.”
The illegal alien has since appeared before a judge, who ordered that he must remain in law enforcement custody. Hurtado-Cariaco could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the crime.
“The arrest and prosecution of this vicious Tren de Aragua gang member underscores our unwavering commitment to protecting our law enforcement officers in the line of duty,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche asserted. “Violent attacks from terrorists against those who serve our communities will be met with swift and decisive justice.”

HSI Agent

Suspected Tren De Aragua Member Charged With Attempted Murder After Attacking Federal Agent

Crime

Tren De Aragua

U.S. Border Patrol agents found and shut down a massive tunnel linking Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego, California, built to unlawfully smuggle narcotics into the United States.
The tunnel spanned nearly 3,000 feet, extending more than 1,000 feet into the United States, with a projected exit point near a warehouse in San Diego, California. It featured a sophisticated ventilation system, electrical wiring, lighting, and a rail track for transporting drugs. In February, the Trump administration designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“As we continue to strengthen the nation’s air, and maritime border security, it’s not surprising that foreign terrorist organizations would resort to underground routes,” <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/san-diego-sector-border-patrol-uncovers-sophisticated-cross-border">said</a> Jeffrey D. Stalnaker, the Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the San Diego Sector. “Disruption of narcotics smuggling tunnels is critical to protecting American lives.”
Federal authorities first discovered the tunnel while it was under construction in April, sending the San Diego Border Patrol Sector Tunnel Team in to investigate the project. Those agents, Border Patrol says, encountered various barricades that “were placed haphazardly by the tunnel workers” in an effort to prevent law enforcement from investigating the passageway into America.
Mexican authorities also investigated the tunnel and discovered the origin point in a residence in Tijuana.
“I’m grateful for the exceptional work of the Tunnel Team agents who placed themselves in danger, as well as the cooperation of our Mexican law enforcement partners,” Stalnaker said.
The tunnel will now be filled with thousands of gallons of concrete to prevent it from being used by drug smugglers. Mexican cartels have carved tunnels into the United States for decades. Nearly 100 tunnels have been discovered and obstructed since 1993 in the San Diego area alone.
The detection of the tunnel comes as the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/zero-illegal-aliens-released-into-u-s-in-may-by-customs-and-border-protection?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Zero+Illegal+Aliens+Released+Into+U.S.+In+May+By+Customs+And+Border+Protection">drastically reduced</a> the number of illegal border crossings and placed financial pressure on the cartels. The Treasury Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/treasury-dept-sanctions-five-key-leaders-of-mexican-drug-cartel?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Treasury+Dept+Sanctions+Five+Key+Leaders+Of+Mexican+Drug+Cartel">unveiled sanctions</a> against five leaders of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion on Wednesday. The move came after the federal agency announced sanctions on leaders of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel">Sinaloa Cartel</a> and the <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0146">Cartel del Noreste</a>.

Customs and Border Protection

Secret Tunnel Built To Smuggle Drugs Into U.S. Shut Down By Border Patrol

Border Patrol

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The Trump administration’s Department of the Treasury on Wednesday announced sanctions on leaders of a ruthless Mexican drug cartel in a move that the federal agency says will hinder the organization’s drug trafficking operations.
The sanctions targeted five key figures of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a vicious criminal enterprise that produces illicit drugs and traffics them into the United States.
“CJNG’s reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0169">said</a>. “The United States remains strongly committed to leveraging all available tools to degrade the capacity of CJNG and other cartels to flood our streets with dangerous drugs and perpetrate heinous acts of violence against civilians.”
Any property held by the five cartel members in the United States will now be frozen and reported to the federal government.
The Treasury Department described the organization as “a brutally violent cartel responsible for a significant share of fentanyl and other illicit drugs entering the United States,” adding, “It uses murder as a tactic to intimidate rivals, including sending messages to other cartels through the targeted killings of women.”
CJNG’s founder and leader, Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was among the five men targeted.
“Under Oseguera’s direction, CJNG operatives have assassinated rivals, Mexican law enforcement, judges, and other government officials,” the Treasury Department noted, also pointing out that Oseguera’s leadership allowed the cartel to “function like a franchise business across several Mexican states,” allowing the criminal enterprise to spread across the country and rake in billions of dollars from the drug trade.
The Treasury also sanctioned Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, who it identified as a senior CJNG member and the son-in-law of Oseguera. Castillo, believed to be a possible successor to Oseguera, operates a port in southwestern Mexico that the cartel uses to import fentanyl precursors.
Another target, Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, is known to recruit new CJNG members and train them at Izaguirre Ranch, a facility in the Mexican state of Jalisco, according to the Trump administration. Mendoza “directed lieutenants to train new CJNG recruits and kill those who defied instructions” and “has also been involved in the murder of numerous law enforcement officers,” the Treasury Department said.
The Treasury hit two more CJNG operatives, Audias Flores Silva and Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, with sanctions. Flores is a regional CJNG commander over several Mexican states and oversees laboratories that produce methamphetamine, while Ruiz runs the CJNG’s propaganda wing. Ruiz is also believed to have killed his girlfriend during a live social media broadcast.
The flurry of sanctions comes after the Treasury Department previously unveiled similar sanctions against members of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel">Sinaloa Cartel</a> and <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0146">Cartel de Noreste</a>. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender told The Daily Wire in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-treasury-official-reveals-how-the-trump-admin-is-choking-off-cartels-cash-flow?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=28&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Treasury+Official+Lays+Out+How+Trump+Is+Choking+Off+Cash+Flow+To+Cartels">exclusive interview</a> that the sanctions are a key tool in the Trump administration’s fight against the Mexican drug cartels.
“If the money is not flowing back south, then there’s less of an incentive to bring the drugs and the guns and some of the illicit activity up to the north,” he explained.

CJNG Graffiti

Treasury Dept Sanctions Five Key Leaders Of Mexican Drug Cartel

Drug Cartels

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

World

Federal authorities carried out a raid on a massive fentanyl peddling ring in New Mexico that was tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, resulting in the arrest of 16 individuals and the largest fentanyl seizure in American history, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.
The raid was carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement partners and resulted in the seizure of 11.5 kilograms of concentrated fentanyl powder, 49 firearms, millions of dollars in cash, luxury vehicles, meth, heroin, cocaine, and nearly “three million pills … laced with fentanyl, labeled as oxycodone,” Attorney General Pam Bondi noted. The shocking amount of fentanyl is enough to kill millions of Americans, with just 2 milligrams being a <a href="https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl">lethal dose</a> for adults.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> announces the takedown of a massive drug and weapons trafficking organization in New Mexico, operated by the Sinaloa cartel — resulting in the largest fentanyl seizure in our nation&#8217;s history and the arrests of six high-level cartel members illegally in the U.S. <a href="https://t.co/6qdSd0bsCu">pic.twitter.com/6qdSd0bsCu</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1919811733004140982?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Sixteen people were arrested in the operation, including the leader of the drug smuggling ring, an illegal alien with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which was designated as a foreign terror organization earlier this year. Six of those arrested in the operation were in the country illegally, Bondi noted.
<div id="attachment_916595" style="width: 582px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-916595" class=" wp-image-916595" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="572" height="763" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px" /></a>The Daily Wire</div>
Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked Bondi if the DOJ has had success working with Mexican officials to extradite cartel members involved in the smuggling operation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
As <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> announces the largest fentanyl seizure in U.S. history, <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> asks whether the Mexican government has aided in extraditing cartel members:
BONDI: “Mexico has been cooperating, we extradited 29 here to our country to face charges … President Trump is… <a href="https://t.co/NuDGO3Gwog">pic.twitter.com/NuDGO3Gwog</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1919832458742423976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
“We will be hopefully working with them on one soon,” Bondi said in response to Olohan’s question. “But yes, Mexico has been cooperating in the past. I think we extradited 29 here to our country to face charges,” adding that those brought in to face American justice are “some of the top cartel members in our nation’s history.”
Bondi also highlighted the scale of the fentanyl crisis facing America, noting that “75,000 Americans are dying each year because of fentanyl” before adding that the DOJ “will not stop until this poison is off of our streets and out of our country.”
“More seizures are coming, more arrests are coming,” Bondi promised. “I guarantee you that.” The Attorney General noted that the six illegal aliens, including Heriberto Salazar Amaya, the leader with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, will face American justice instead of being deported back to their countries of origin.

AG Pam Bondi

Feds Make Largest Fentanyl Bust In History, Arrest Illegal Alien With Ties To Deadly Cartel

Pam Bondi

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday that the federal law enforcement agency had extradited a man from Mexico who is believed to be a “senior leader” of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
“The FBI has extradited one of our &#8216;Ten Most Wanted&#8217; from Mexico — one we believe to be a key senior leader of MS-13, Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales,” Patel announced <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1902008572088909884">in a post</a> on X. “He was arrested in Mexico and is being transported within the U.S. as we speak, where he will face American justice.”
“This is a major victory both for our law enforcement partners and for a safer America. Thank you to our brave personnel for executing the mission,” Patel said before thanking Mexican officials for their operational support.
The announcement from Patel comes just after the Mexican government <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/ms13-gang-member-arrested-mexico-fbi-most-wanted-2046174">announced</a> his arrest in Veracruz on Monday.
The FBI previously noted that Roman-Bardales should be considered “armed and dangerous” and “has been charged with several offenses for his alleged role in ordering numerous acts of violence against civilians and rival gang members, as well as his alleged role in drug distribution and extortion schemes in the United States and El Salvador.
Roman-Bardales was <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/kash-patel-reveals-major-ms-13-arrest-mexico-2046507">hit</a> with a federal arrest warrant by the Eastern District in New York in 2022 and stands accused of conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists; narco-terrorism conspiracy; racketeering conspiracy; and alien smuggling conspiracy.
Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, was <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels/">designated</a> a foreign terror organization last month by the Trump administration.
“MS-13 actively recruits, organizes, and spreads violence in several countries, primarily in Central America and North America, including El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States,” the State Department noted. “MS-13 has conducted numerous violent attacks, including assassination and the use of IEDs and drones, against El Salvador government officials and facilities.”
The Trump administration said, “MS-13 uses public displays of violence to intimidate civilian populations to obtain and control territory and manipulate the electoral process in El Salvador.”

Kash Patel

FBI Extradites Top MS-13 Leader From Mexico To Face ‘American Justice’

kash patel

MS-13 Gang

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