Federal prosecutors and law enforcement leaders are gathering in El Paso Monday morning to announce indictments and new developments in an ongoing Homeland Security Task Force investigation. U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons is set to lead the announcement alongside federal, state and local law enforcement partners, with the press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
According to KTSM 9 News, the briefing will take place at the office's location at 700 East San Antonio Avenue, Suite 200. Simmons is expected to appear alongside Vance Belyeu, the Deputy Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, and Coult W. Markovsky, the Special Agent in Charge for the FBI's El Paso field office, the station reports.
Anyone planning to attend in person needs to come prepared: the station's report notes that attendees must present a government-issued photo ID along with media credentials to pass through security. KTSM said it plans to carry a livestream of the press conference both on its article page and through its social media accounts.
What the Task Force Has Tackled Before
The Homeland Security Task Force has been behind a string of federal cases across the Western District of Texas in recent years, though the exact scope of Monday's announcement has not been detailed. Per the U.S. Department of Justice's Western District of Texas office, one such case ended with a federal jury in El Paso convicting a Mexican national on five counts for his role in what prosecutors described as a deadly conspiracy to smuggle and harbor undocumented immigrants.
In another case tied to the task force, the Department of Justice reported an El Paso stash-house bust that resulted in a dozen arrests and the location of three juveniles, alongside a related case in which an Eagle Pass stash-house operator was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison. The Western District of Texas has also pointed to a case in which a federal jury in Del Rio convicted three codefendants connected to an alien-smuggling organization, part of a broader surge the district has described as more than 250 new immigration cases filed in a single week.
A Separate Oilfield Theft Case Shows the Scale of the Problem
Monday's press conference comes against the backdrop of other major federal cases moving through West Texas courts, including one unrelated to the Homeland Security Task Force that illustrates how costly organized theft has become in the region's oil patch. Per a report from Home News Here, the FBI began investigating Vallee Oil & Gas in January 2024, and a federal complaint alleges that three men devised a scheme between September 20, 2023, and February 18, 2025, to buy and receive stolen crude oil from the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico and transport it across state lines into Texas.
That same report states that three people — company president Leandro Juarez, director of West Texas operations Moses Juarez, and principal yard manager Eduardo Lopez — have been indicted in a separate federal case involving Vallee Oil & Gas.
The scale of oilfield theft across Texas has drawn attention from industry and regulators alike. A Dallas Federal Reserve survey from the third quarter of 2025 found that 41% of oil and gas executives said oilfield theft affected their operations in 2024, the outlet notes. Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian has said industry officials estimate the problem costs Texas operators potentially billions of dollars annually, with some Permian Basin operators reportedly losing up to $300,000 a month.
Presumption of Innocence Applies
As with any federal indictment, the allegations expected to be detailed Monday represent charges, not findings of guilt. The U.S. Department of Justice's Western District of Texas office has stated that indictments and criminal complaints are allegations, and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
