For twelve days in late August, law enforcement officers went after human trafficking and organized crime operations in Southern New Mexico and reported back yesterday on what they said was a successful first step.
In a press conference at the State House, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state and federal officials talked about Operation Disruption.
Head of the state’s organized crime commission, Bernalillo County district attorney Sam Bregman, said the two top priorities were disrupting the cartels and saving the lives of victimized migrants.
“Human trafficking is modern day slavery," said Bregman.
"What the cartels and criminal organizations are doing with human beings in their trafficking is absolutely unacceptable at every single level. This state like every state in the country, quite frankly, deals with this issue.”
Focused in Doña Ana and Luna Counties, the effort to tackle human trafficking led to
91 migrants rescued by state police; the identification and disruption of 33 stash houses; more than 700 traffic stops; and, thus far, 16 arrests, officials said.
The governor re-established the Organized Crime Commission last year. Bregman said the commission’s work addresses issues such as human trafficking but has positive effects on other public safety issues in New Mexico.
“Organized crime weaves its way into the fabric of a community and it’s not just stash houses," said Bregman.
"It's guns out on the street. It's drugs out on the street. All these things happen because of organized crime. Every time we make a difference at perhaps one stash house, that has a good ripple effect down the road that we stop those same criminal enterprises from conducting other types of businesses.”
Both Bregman and Lujan Grisham spoke about the need to pass new laws relating to human trafficking.
A statute designed to amend human trafficking laws was on the state’s agenda for the legislative session that began in January, but did not get approved by lawmakers.
