Federal prosecutors charged 268 people with immigration-related offenses in Arizona during a weeklong enforcement push from Aug. 8 through Aug. 14, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
The filings include 124 charges for unlawful entry and 122 for unlawful re-entry into the United States. In addition, prosecutors filed 17 smuggling-related cases against 22 individuals accused of moving undocumented immigrants into and through the state.
The enforcement surge involved multiple federal agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), the FBI, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the ATF.
Among the specific cases highlighted by prosecutors, Martin Alberto Cota Jr. was charged by criminal complaint on Aug. 10 with the transportation of an illegal alien for profit. Border Patrol agents spotted a vehicle on State Route 82 on Aug. 8 that had crossed the Nogales Port of Entry earlier with a single occupant and a canceled registration.
When agents attempted a traffic stop after noticing a second passenger, the driver accelerated, drove three miles, and dropped off a passenger on the roadside before stopping at a gas station. Agents arrested Cota at the gas station and located the passenger nearby, identifying him as a Mexican citizen unlawfully in the country.
In a separate case filed Aug. 10, Marcelino Ignacio Mendoza-Santos was charged with transportation of an illegal alien (Case 26-MJ-1648). An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper pulled Mendoza-Santos over for speeding on Aug. 7. Border Patrol agents arrived to assist and confirmed that his four passengers were Mexican nationals unlawfully present in the U.S.
The prosecutions fall under Operation Take Back America, a broader Department of Justice initiative targeting transnational criminal organizations, human smuggling networks, and border enforcement.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
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