EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A U.S. official is accusing a woman jailed on femicide charges in Juarez, Mexico, of leading a baby-trafficking ring on behalf of a drug cartel.
Martha Alicia Mendez Aguilar, a.k.a. “La Diabla,” was arrested in Juarez earlier this month on charges of human trafficking for allegedly recruiting a 16-year-old girl for criminal activities. A week later, Mexican prosecutors charged her in connection with the July 25 murder of a 20-year-old pregnant woman.
The victim, whose body was pulled from the backyard of a home, was allegedly subjected to a C-section prior to being killed. The home was in the area near the Zaragoza neighborhood, according to the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office.
On Wednesday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) posted on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter, it provided intelligence that led to the arrest of “La Diabla,” an alleged member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG.
The joint operation, executed by Mexican law enforcement officers, disrupted an infant trafficking network led by “La Diabla,” that lured pregnant women to remote locations, performed illegal cesarean procedures, harvested the organs from the mothers’ bodies, and sold the newborns to couples in the U.S. for up to 250,000 pesos, or about $13,000, the NCTC said.
“This is one example of what terrorist cartels will do to diversify their revenue streams and finance operations,” posted Joe Kent, NCTC. “NCTC delivered critical intelligence on ‘La Diabla’s’ location and developed a comprehensive analysis that enabled U.S. and Mexican law enforcement partners to take action,
“I am proud of our team’s ability to work with our forward deployed U.S. partners and Mexican law enforcement to stop these horrific acts. NCTC remains committed to disrupting all aspects of terrorist cartels and their operations. And in this case, the lives of innocent women and children depended on it.”
The 44-year-old suspect remained jailed on Thursday at Juarez’s Cereso No. 2 prison for women. She is now facing an additional charge in connection with injuries sustained by the baby.
Chihuahua State prosecutors confirmed to Border Report news partner ProVideo on Thursday that the baby was alive and is hospitalized.
The U.S. agency said Mendez’s arrest was supported by U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) El Paso, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) El Paso, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and executed by Mexican law enforcement partners and Fiscalia Especializada en la Mujer (the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Women).
ProVideo in Juarez, Mexico, contributed to this report.
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