Two Mexican Nationals Plead Guilty to Alien Smuggling
Two Mexican nationals have pleaded guilty to federal charges including alien smuggling and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), the Justice Department announced.
“The defendants smuggled methamphetamine and aliens into the United States for financial gain, then doubled down to make more money by conspiring to export AK-47 style weapons and .50 caliber rifles to Mexico for CJNG, a terrorist organization that has destroyed lives and caused death in our great country,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The defendant’s conduct directly threatened the national security of the United States and the well-being of American citizens.”
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas said the case reflects the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to designate CJNG and 19 other cartels and transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. “The conviction of Navarro Sanchez for providing support to a foreign terrorist organization is one of many to come as we continue to hit these FTOs where they are most vulnerable — their pocketbooks,” Simmons said.
DEA El Paso Division Special Agent in Charge Robert “Eric” Castañeda added that the designation strengthens the charges prosecutors can bring. “Anyone seeking to profit from the deaths of Americans, no matter their level of involvement, will be brought to justice,” he said.
According to court documents, Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 40, of Mexico, conspired to provide material support to CJNG by trafficking firearms from the United States into Mexico for the cartel’s use. Prosecutors said Navarro Sanchez knew CJNG engaged in terrorist activity, including hostage taking, assassinations and the use of explosives and firearms. She also admitted to contracting with alien smugglers to bring individuals into the U.S. illegally, at least one of whom went on to manage stash houses in El Paso where Navarro Sanchez stored firearms and narcotics.
In early August 2023, Navarro Sanchez negotiated to purchase 20 AK-47-style weapons and two .50-caliber rifles from undercover agents, intending for the firearms to be smuggled into Mexico and used to further methamphetamine trafficking into the United States. Coconspirator Gustavo Castro-Medina, 29, of Mexico, admitted the firearms were meant to be illegally exported to Mexico in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Castro-Medina served as an intermediary who wired a $3,000 down payment to an undercover agent toward the $66,000 purchase price for the weapons. On Aug. 21, 2023, two co-conspirators arrived in El Paso to deliver the remaining $63,000 in cash and take possession of the firearms. Agents arrested the co-conspirators once the exchange was completed.
Castro-Medina also admitted that U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped him in November 2020 while he was driving a Nissan Sentra near Sierra Blanca, Texas, and found 36.36 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a non-factory compartment beneath the vehicle.
Navarro Sanchez, Castro-Medina and their co-conspirators were indicted in April 2025. The Mexican government subsequently transferred the two defendants to the United States under its National Security Law.
Navarro Sanchez pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking, conspiracy to bring aliens into the country, and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. She faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. Castro-Medina pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking, and faces the same statutory range. Sentencing dates have not been set for either defendant.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, with assistance from U.S. Border Patrol. It was prosecuted as part of Joint Task Force Alpha, the Justice Department’s lead initiative targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations involved in human smuggling and trafficking, and falls under the Homeland Security Task Force established by Executive Order 14159.
