District of Arizona Charges 242 Individuals for Immigration-Related Criminal Conduct this Week

PHOENIX, Ariz. - During the week of enforcement operations from November 29, 2025, through December 5, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona brought im-migration-related criminal charges against 242 individuals. Specifically, the United States filed 111 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 118 aliens for illegally entering the United States. In its ongoing effort to deter unlaw-ful immigration, the United States filed 12 cases against 13 individuals responsible for smug-gling illegal aliens into and within the District of Arizona.

These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immi-gration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Admin-istration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Recent matters of interest include:

United States v. Dulce Haglaen Durazo-Torres: On December 4, 2025, Dulce Haglaen Durazo-Torres was charged by complaint with Transportation of an Illegal Alien. An AZ DPS trooper observed Durazo-Torres driving slowly on I-10 Westbound. The trooper suspected the vehicle was attempting to avoid detection and ran a vehicle registration check. The check confirmed that the vehicle's plates were suspended, and the trooper initiated a traffic stop. The trooper observed Durazo-Torres, one man in the passenger seat, and one man in the backseat of the car. The two passengers admitted to entering the United States without legal authorization, and Du-razo-Torres admitted to transporting the passengers into the United States. Immigration checks confirmed that Duraz-Torres and the two passengers are citizens of Mexico, unlawfully present in the United States. Case Number: 25-MJ-08581-PHX-JZB

United States v. Edgar Eduardo Quiroz-Otero: On December 1, 2025, Edgar Eduardo Quiroz-Otero was charged by complaint with Re-entry of Removed Alien. Quiroz-Otero was previously removed from the United States in July 2024 after being convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl, a felony, in the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio. In that case, Quiroz-Otero was sentenced to 30 months of im-prisonment followed by three years of supervised release. Case Number: 25-MJ-08558-PHX-JZB

United States v. Joseph Tunon Esteban-Seanez: On December 1, 2025, Joseph Tunon Esteban-Seanez and Jesus Francisco Pena-Valenzuela, both Mexican citizens illegally present in the United States, were charged with Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens for Profit. During a vehicle stop on suspicion of alien smuggling, agents requested the driver, Esteban, to put his Jeep in park. Instead, Esteban drove away. Agents pursued but ultimately terminated the pursuit because of the Jeep's speed. Agents then found the Jeep parked in front of a store and arrested Esteban inside the store and Pena with two other aliens some distance away from the store, hid-ing in the brush. Esteban and Pena had agreed to pick up and transport other aliens because they had been fired from their jobs and saw the opportunity to make money. Case Number: 25-MJ-01360-TUC-BGM

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

RELEASE NUMBER: 2025-171_December 5 Immigration Enforcement

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