Justin De La Torre, Border Patrol Chief of the Yuma Sector, announced that Wellton Station agents have arrested a Somali national with a felony sex trafficking conviction. The individual is currently in federal custody pending removal. This statement was made on the social media platform X.
“Wellton Station agents arrested a Somali truck driver who has a felony conviction for engaging in sex trafficking of a minor,” said De La Torre. “Border Security Is National Security.”
In March 2025, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended two noncitizens previously convicted of felony sex crimes against children during separate incidents. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), these cases highlight the ongoing risk posed by offenders attempting to reenter the United States unlawfully and reflect CBP’s priority of intercepting individuals with dangerous criminal histories before they reach interior communities.
Although CBP does not publish arrest statistics specific to Highway 95 checkpoints near Yuma, broader data indicate that in Fiscal Year 2024, Border Patrol arrested approximately 17,000 noncitizens with prior criminal convictions. This figure represents roughly 1.1% of the 1.6 million apprehensions nationwide. USAFacts reports that Highway 95, as a major Arizona checkpoint, is part of the enforcement landscape targeting repeat criminal offenders.
Federal enforcement records show that noncitizens with convictions for sex trafficking and related crimes continue to be prioritized for removal. For instance, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that a Honduran man convicted of aggravated human trafficking was removed within four months of being apprehended, underscoring the speed at which such serious cases are processed. These trends were documented in ICE’s FY 2024 annual report.
De La Torre serves as the Chief Patrol Agent for the Yuma Sector, overseeing operations along the southwest Arizona border. He began his Border Patrol career in the San Diego Sector in the 1990s and has held various leadership roles, including Deputy Chief of Tucson Sector before his appointment to Yuma in 2025. AZFamily reports that De La Torre has nearly 25 years of experience managing border security operations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, is tasked with safeguarding the nation’s borders and preventing illegal entry. Since its establishment in 1924, CBP has operated across 328 ports of entry, protecting 7,000 miles of land borders and 95,000 miles of maritime borders.
