Federal prosecutors in the District of New Mexico allege that 23-year-old Cristhian Ortega-Lopez was illegally in possession of a firearm and has ties to the hyperviolent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump and the U.S. State Department declared the gang to be a foreign terrorist organization.
Police arrested Orgega-Lopez while executing a search warrant on February 28 at the home of Dona Ana County, New Mexico, Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, Nancy, the Albuquerque Journal reported this week. The report follows a detention hearing where prosecutors claim the illegal alien is a flight risk and an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member.
Cano, a former police officer, allowed Ortega-Lopez to file a request for immigration relief using the judge’s residential address. Court exhibits also posted social media posts of the foreign national posing with the judge.
Court records obtained by revealed that Ortega-Lopez, a Venezuelan national, entered the United States illegally in Eagle Pass, Texas, during the peak of the Biden Border Crisis in December 2023. Due to overcrowding in the Eagle Pass detention facility, he was released three days later.
Social media posts obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico showed Ortega-Lopez and other illegal aliens at a shooting range. They appeared to be in possession of multiple firearms and a large quantity of handgun and rifle ammunition. In one image, the man is holding an AR-15-style rifle in one hand and a semi-automatic pistol in the other. A video showed the Venezuelan migrant in possession of another AR-15 equipped with a suppressor. He fired the rifle until it was empty and then reloaded it with a new magazine, which he continued to fire, prosecutors stated.
The photos and videos showed Ortega-Lopez displaying Tren de Aragua gang tattoos. The United States government recently declared this violent gang to be a Transnational Criminal Organization.
Investigators found additional firearms in a neighboring home owned by Nancy Cano’s daughter. Ortega-Lopez was seen in possession of several of these firearms.
Investigators report that the Venezuelan national moved to El Paso after being released by Border Patrol agents. There, he roomed with five other people, court documents stated. While living there, Ortega-Lopez met Nancy Cano and began doing construction and handyman jobs. Cano extended an offer for the illegal alien to live in a casita behind her home.
Other images from Ortega-Lopez’s cell phone obtained by Breitbart showed graphic images of multiple decapitated and mutilated bodies.
Ortega-Lopez is currently in the Dona Ana County Detention Center, where he is charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms.
It is not clear if Judge Cano or his wife, Nancy, will be charged with harboring an illegal alien or providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
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