From New York to New Mexico: new Epstein files shed light on his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe [View all]

Several men appear in photos on the nearly 10,000-acre Zorro ranch, which included a 26,700 sq ft mansion

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For years, Epstein abused teenage girls and young women on this ranch with impunity, according to testimony from several women. In court proceedings, survivors detailed horror after horror they say unfolded on this isolated expanse of land.

Authorities searched many of Epstein’s other properties over the years – his New York townhouse, private Caribbean island, Palm Beach estate and Paris apartment – but state and local officials said they were not aware of any federal search of the ranch.

Hector Balderas, New Mexico’s attorney general at the time of Epstein’s 2019 arrest, said that in 2019 his office “investigated activity that occurred in New Mexico that was still viable for prosecution, including contact with multiple victims”. But, he said, the US attorneys in New York handling the federal investigation “asked that we hold any further state investigation or prosecution of activity related to Epstein, as they communicated to us that they were already leading an active multi-jurisdictional prosecution”.

Emails released by the justice department last week as part of a large set of documents related to Epstein also suggest that a search did not occur around the time of Epstein’s arrest. In September 2019, Manhattan federal prosecutors said that they spoke with the New Mexico attorney general’s office, who they said had “agreed to cease any investigation into sex trafficking and share whatever they had gathered regarding sex trafficking activity with our office”.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/08/epstein-files-new-mexico-ranch