The family owns and operates Arroyo Terminals, a Texas company that buys and sells crude oil at a property just miles from the US border in Rio Hondo. Arroyo Terminals was raided by federal agents on the same day the family was arrested, with employees being handcuffed and questioned about the business’s practices. “We don’t know about that,” one employee told CBS 4 News after the raid. “We’re just in charge of unloading the trucks and loading the barges.” “When it comes to the aspect of knowing where this oil’s coming from or what company or what part of Mexico or anything like that, we were always out of the loop,” another work told Border Report. The Jensens were detained and taken to the Salt Lake City Jail, but despite prosecutors’ fears of being a flight risk, were back home within days after their attorney, John Huber, agued they had deep roots in the community and weren’t going anywhere. Federal agents say the Jensens didn’t come out when they came knocking — so the mansion’s door was battered down. “They’re active in their church. They’re active in their community. They come from a stalwart Utah family,” Huber said. “[James’] in-laws have served in public service for decades and they don’t want to throw that all out of the window.” Huber also disputed the feds’ claim that the family refused to come easily during the raid.
“Mr. Jensen and Mrs. Jensen’s story about that is very different,” Huber said, claiming the couple agreed to come out but that the feds busted down their door anyway. The family business was previously accused of buying stolen oil in 2011. In that case, James Jensen was sued by a Mexican government-owned oil company for allegedly traveling to Mexico to buy fuel from cartels. Jensen denied all wrongdoing and that case was dropped two years later. After their April arrest, the Jensens were ordered to forfeit all money they’d earned from the alleged scheme, along with new cars, a second home, their business, and bank accounts — all worth about $300 million, KSLTV reported.
Both sons pleaded not guilty. All were also charged with money laundering spending conspiracy, and aiding and abetting smuggling goods into the US. They face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
Our commentary:
Read between the lines here. They weren’t just smuggling oil, they were allegedly trafficking children, drugs, and weapons. This family is LDS. We don’t believe they were operating this scheme alone. Other powerful leaders in Utah had to be involved in order for this operation to work. There is no way those employees didn’t’ know what was on those barges and shipments. Relentless Hope is working with a survivor of a cartel sex trafficking ring operating in Utah. If you have any additional information to provide regarding trafficking on Utah college campuses, please contact us immediately at info@relentlesshopeforyou.org. There is a reason we don’t want illegal immigrants coming into the US. We must be vigilant in protecting our children and young adults. SRA survivors are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked again as adults when these perpetrators come into contact with them.