A sign at the El Paso International Airport (ELP) on December 25, 2025 in El Paso, Texas. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
(EL PASO, Texas) — Flight restrictions put in place and then lifted for El Paso, Texas, by the Federal Aviation Administration were taken as a preemptive measure by the agency amid a potential operation by military drones in the area, a source told ABC News.
The FAA said in a statement that there is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.
Hours after issuing the flight restrictions, the FAA published an updated statement saying the temporary closure of airspace over El Paso had been lifted.
“Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace. The Department of War took action to disable the drones,” an administration official told ABC News. “The FAA and DOW have determined there is no threat to commercial travel.”
The earlier notice said no flights could operate beginning early Wednesday within a 10 nautical mile radius of El Paso Airport, including from the ground up to 17,999 feet. The restrictions will remain in effect until Feb. 21, the notice said. This excludes the Mexican airspace.
El Paso Airport authorities told ABC News in a statement, “The FAA, on short notice, issued a temporary flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso and our neighboring community, Santa Teresa, NM. The restriction prohibits all aircraft operations (including commercial, cargo and general aviation) and is effective from February 10 at 11:30 PM (MST) to February 20 at 11:30PM (MST). Airport staff has reached out to the FAA, and we are pending additional guidance.”
The airport says airlines have been advised of the restrictions, and travelers are encouraged to check with their airlines on the latest flight information.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, described the notice as “unprecedented,” saying it “has resulted in significant concern within the community.”
“From what my office and I have been able to gather overnight and early this morning there is no immediate threat to the community or surrounding areas,” Escobar said in a statement. “There was no advance notice provided to my office, the City of El Paso, or anyone involved in airport operations.
The airspace has been defined as “national defense airspace,” according to the FAA. Pilots who violate these restrictions could be intercepted or detained for questioning by law enforcement.
Failure to comply with these restrictions could result in the FAA imposing a civil penalty or revoking the pilot’s license. The federal government can also pursue criminal charges or even use “deadly force” against an aircraft if it poses an imminent security threat, according to the notice.
ABC News has reached out to the FAA for additional information behind these restrictions as well as to airlines about disruptions to their operations.
El Paso is home to one of the largest cargo facilities near the border, so these restrictions could have a significant impact on shipments as well. ABC News has also contacted air cargo carriers for any information.
Escobar said her office has “urged the FAA to immediately lift the Temporary Flight Restrictions placed on the El Paso area.”
“I will continue to make information public as I learn it,” she said.
Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander attend Chanukah With The Stars Gala on December 10, 2014 at Harmonie Club in New York City. (Photo by J Grassi/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Three sons of wealth and privilege “were partners in crime” who used their money and status to lure women and girls with promises of trips, exclusive parties and celebrity encounters so they could sexually assault them, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday during opening statements in the trial of Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander.
“These three brothers masqueraded as party boys when really they were predators,” the prosecutor, Madison Smeyser, said. “The brothers used whatever means necessary — sometimes drugs, sometimes alcohol, sometimes brute force — to carry out their rapes.”
The former real estate titans, Oren and Tal Alexander, along with their brother, Alon Alexander, have denied sexually assaulting anyone or running a sex trafficking conspiracy, as prosecutors have charged. They sat at the defense tables with their lawyers in suits and open-collar shirts.
If convicted, Oren and Alon Alexander, 38-year-old twins, and Tal Alexander, 39, could face life in prison.
“They came from a wealthy family, and they lived a life of luxury. But their luxurious lifestyle had a dark side,” Smeyser said.
A defense attorney called the brothers successful, ambitious, arrogant young men “who liked and pursued women” so they could have as much sex as possible.
“That’s not trafficking. That’s dating. That’s hooking up,” the lawyer, Teny Geragos, said during opening statements. She said the accusers, many of whom are expected to testify under pseudonyms, are motivated by shame, regret or money.
Prosecutors told the jury of six men and six women they would see a recording of Oren Alexander’s alleged rape of a then-17-year-old who will testify under the name Amelia. She was “far from sober, almost incoherent” at the time and has no memory of what happened, Smeyser said.
At an exclusive party in Manhattan, Alon Alexander allegedly raped a woman who regained consciousness to find him standing over her naked. When she told him she did not want to have sex, prosecutors said he laughed and said she already had, before raping her again.
Prosecutors said Tal Alexander invited a woman to the Hamptons, chased her into the shower, grabbed her by the neck and sexually assaulted her from behind as the woman cried, “no, no, no.”
Jurors were told they would read the brothers’ exuberant text messages after some of the encounters. “They celebrated raping women and girls,” Smeyser said.
Other messages, she said, suggested “the defendants knew they had to stay out of a courtroom like this one,” including one text that said the only thing that could bring down the brothers is “some ho complaining.”
The defense conceded the brothers were womanizers who jurors might find immoral but insisted they were not criminals.
“It was crude, it was arrogant, it will make you cringe,” defense attorney Deanna Paul said. “But we’re not here for the Asshole Awards.”
Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez is seen circa October 2024 in a photo released by the FBI. (FBI)
(FLORIDA) — A truck driver went missing while transporting vehicles from Georgia to Florida in a possible hijacking, according to the FBI, which is investigating his “suspicious disappearance.”
Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez, 41, was last seen on April 17 at a rest stop on I-95 south in Brevard County, Florida, according to the FBI’s Tampa field office.
He arrived at the truck stop in Grant-Valkaria at approximately 1:21 a.m. and rested for several hours, the FBI said. At 7:49 a.m., the truck drove south one exit and then turned north, according to the FBI.
“Soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable and the truck was reported missing,” the FBI stated in a missing person bulletin.
The truck was located in Port Wentworth, Georgia, on April 17, though Gonzalez was not there, according to the FBI. Several vehicles were also missing.
“Since the discovery of the truck, three vehicles have been located in Florida,” the FBI said. “Others are still missing, along with Gonzalez.”
Gonzalez, a CDL driver for an unidentified trucking company, had picked up multiple vehicles from the Port of Brunswick in Georgia on April 16 and was supposed to drop them off in Miami, the FBI said.
The FBI described Gonzalez as being 5’11” and weighing 200 pounds. He is bald and has a brown beard and moustache, brown eyes and multiple tattoos, including a tattoo of the word “Elisia” on his right forearm.
Anyone with videos or photographs taken in and around the area of the Grant-Valkaria rest stop between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on April 17 are asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit tips online.
