"Operation Disruption" occurred between Aug. 17 and Aug. 29, resulting in 91 rescues, 735 traffic stops, and 16 arrests. The operation also identified 33 stash houses, according to a Sept. 3 press release.
According to the El Paso Times, individuals trafficked across the US-Mexico border are taken to stash houses in El Paso, Texas. This makes the New Mexico desert west of El Paso an active area for human trafficking. This specific area has seen migrant deaths resulting from heat after the migrants are smuggled across the border and become lost.
During the operation, nine people were discovered in the desert, including one woman in a life-or-death situation, according to the Sept. 3 news release. The 12-day human trafficking operation in August involved multiple agencies including the New Mexico State Police Crime Suppression and Uniform Bureaus, New Mexico Organized Crime Commission, US Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Las Cruces Police Department, Bureau of Land Management, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Mexican officials.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham revamped the New Mexico Organized Crime Commission in May 2023 to "take a sophisticated approach" in fighting crime organizations such as Mexican drug cartels, according to the El Paso Times.
Lujan Grisham is New Mexico’s Governor and is currently serving her second term. She is noted as the first Democratic Hispanic woman elected governor of New Mexico. Her first term saw significant initiatives including creating cabinet-level state agencies dedicated to early childhood education and care; securing stable funding for the Early Childhood Trust Fund and Land Grant Permanent Fund; and making childcare free for many families in the state. She was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico and holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of New Mexico. Lujan Grisham previously served as New Mexico Secretary of Health under Gov. Bill Richardson and represented District 1 in the US House for three terms.
