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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2016
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Operation Broken Heart III was a two-month-long coordinated statewide law enforcement sweep
Albuquerque, NM – This morning, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that Internet Crimes Against
Children (ICAC) task forces around the country, including the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General
ICAC Task Force, launched a two month operation in April called Operation Broken Heart III. The operation
was a coordinated effort by law enforcement representing more than 3,000 federal, state and local law
enforcement agencies with the purpose of arresting as many child predators as possible and providing as much
cyber safety education and outreach as possible to children, parents and educators throughout New Mexico.
“The Office of the Attorney General and our over 90 law enforcement ICAC task force members around New
Mexico have no higher priority than protecting our state’s most innocent and vulnerable citizens – our
children,” said Attorney General Balderas. “I want to thank law enforcement agencies from San Juan to Lea
Counties, from Albuquerque to Alamogordo, from Santa Fe to Silver City, for their participation in this
successful operation to protect our children from horrendous predators.”
During Operation Broken Heart III, the New Mexico ICAC Task Force conducted 63 search warrants, made 21
arrests/served arrest warrants, presented 156 cyber safety trainings reaching over 5,400 attendees, and
conducted three public safety events impacting over 8,770 attendees across New Mexico.
The New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s operation concentrated on offenders who: (1) possess, manufacture, and
distribute child pornography; (2) engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes; (3) engage in the
commercial sexual exploitation of children (commonly referred to as child prostitution), and (4) engage in child
sex tourism (traveling abroad for the purpose of sexually abusing foreign children).
All participating ICAC task forces in the United States will compile arrest statistics from the two-month-long
Operation Broken Heart III and share them with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP) in Washington, D.C.
Attorney General Balderas is committed to protecting children from cyber predators through his ICAC Unit and
the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is a multi-agency network of law enforcement personnel statewide
whose mission is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers.
The Office of the Attorney General ICAC Unit has a fully equipped computer lab specifically designed to
provide forensic analysis to law enforcement agencies working ICAC cases and special criminal investigations
serving all of New Mexico’s 33 counties.
To report suspected child exploitation please contact the Office of the Attorney General toll free at 1-866-627-
3249 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or
www.missingkids.com.
Please see attached for arrest information.
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