FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2019
Contact: JR Rael mrael@nmag.gov
(505) 220-2846
Albuquerque, NM – Today, Attorney General Hector Balderas, in coordination with Seventh
Judicial District Attorney Clint Wellborn, Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb, Curry
County Sheriff’s Office, Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office, Socorro County Sheriff’s Office,
Region V Drug Task Force, Region IV Probation and Parole, Portales Police Department, and
Clovis Police Department, conducted phase I of Operation Steel Net. This operation was a
coordinated law-enforcement effort to find and arrest violent offenders with outstanding warrants
in rural and urban communities in Curry County, Roosevelt County, and Socorro County. This
operation is a result of months worth of intelligence gathering, analysis, and coordination with
local law enforcement to execute Operation Steel Net on September 4 – 5, 2019. This operation
resulted in 23 successful arrests of violent criminals wanted by the Court.
“We believe it is vital to collaborate with district attorneys and law enforcement throughout the
State to pursue justice for New Mexicans” said Attorney General Balderas. “No community should
be left behind when targeting violent crime.”
“I’m extremely excited the Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office was able to work in
conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office and local law enforcement to help take some of
Clovis and Portales’s most violent offenders out of our community,” said Ninth Judicial District
Attorney Andrea Reeb. “It was an extremely successful operation and our community is safer
because of these arrests.”
Seventh Judicial District Attorney Clint Wellborn stated “My office appreciates the efforts of the
Attorney General’s Office and law enforcement in apprehending defendants in the Seventh
Judicial District who had failed to comply with their conditions of release and failed to show up
for their hearings in court. We look forward to getting these cases back on track.”
This operation came as a result of the Governor’s Task Force on Violent Crime. The Office of the
Attorney General continues to partner with multiple law-enforcement entities throughout the State
to continue fighting for the safety of New Mexico families.
Attached please see a photo of mugshots of individuals arrested in the operation.