United States Marshals Service – Operation Alpha and Omega Nets 106 Gang Members

Albuquerque, NM- The United States Marshals Service for the District of New Mexico has been conducting Operation “Alpha and Omega,” in New Mexico. The Operation ran from May 15, 2017 – December 31, 2017.  Operation Alpha and Omega partners the United States Marshals Service in NM with the New Mexico Department of Corrections (NMCD) and local law enforcement agencies across the state in conducting a statewide fugitive gang member operation. The two primary sources that these felony warrants will come from are, the NMCD – Probation Parole Security Threat Intelligence Unit and the District of New Mexico Federal Probation Office. These warrants will include, but are not specifically limited to; probation violators, parole retake warrants, and other gang-related fugitives with felony warrants. 

On December 31, 2017, The United States Marshal Service and Task Force Partners marked the successful completion of Operation Alpha and Omega. Since May 15, 2017, The Marshals Service and Task Force Partners have been working tirelessly to apprehend fugitive gang members across New Mexico. The team apprehended 106 fugitives from 41 different gangs, 9 being national gangs and 32 NM gangs. The charges ranged from homicide (12), kidnapping (12), rape (6), weapon (89), assaults/batt (176), and narcotics (146). This is no small task considering the broad scope of authority and the amount of Fugitives the U.S. Marshals Service in N.M. investigates and arrests annually. Some arrests to note are: Robert Sanchez, Jose Salazar, Troy Pope, and Maria Torrez. 

• Robert Sanchez - apprehended in Albuquerque, alleged SNM member who has allegedly committed 2 homicides.
• Jose Salazar - apprehended in Las Cruces, alleged SSR MOB gang member who allegedly committed 1 homicide.
• Troy Pope - Apprehended in Farmington, an alleged member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang, alleged with 1 Homicide. 
• Maria Torrez – apprehended in Roswell, and an alleged member of the Eastside Chihuahuita gang, alleged with 2 homicides. 

United States Marshal for The District of New Mexico Conrad E. Candelaria stated, “Our youth is the precious social fabric in our society and when they become involved in criminal gang behavior it diminishes the future prosperity of our society. This violent crime reduction initiative that was spearheaded by the Marshals Fugitive Task Force, in partnership with the New Mexico Department of Corrections, what becomes obvious is that criminal gang behavior continues to plague our New Mexico communities, which further reinforces the importance of law enforcement jurisdictions to continue working as a force multiplier in pursuing and apprehending dangerous criminal gang members that have absconded justice. The Marshals Service in New Mexico is committed to bringing to justice all those dangerous, violent fugitives, which also allows our citizens that have been negatively affected by violent crime to have closure.”   

“This operation targets the most dangerous criminals and known gang members in our communities who have violated their probation or parole and continue to pose a threat to public safety,” said David Jablonski, Cabinet Secretary for New Mexico Corrections Department. “The United States Marshals Service is an important partner in sharing intelligence to track down these offenders and we’re thankful for their cooperation and assistance in making our community safe.”