In a groundshaking human trafficking bust, the state of Texas arrested five people, one of whom was a member of the notorious Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang. According to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, the human smugglers have been “circumventing Border Patrol checkpoints” to bring illegal immigrants into the United States.
For context, TdA is a violent cartel recently designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration. The criminal enterprise hit the news when Judge James Boasberg attempted to halt President Trump from deporting TdA members by invoking the Alien Enemy Act, which kicked off a massive legal fight.
In any case, three of the five suspects were charged with human smuggling, including 24-year-old Jose Francisco Barriento Vega, 49-year-old Mary Lou Tula, and 44-year-old Alexis Segundo Olivo Fernandez. The two other suspects were charged with drug possession offences.
In an earlier case, the state of Texas arrested another violent TdA member. In an October 11, 2024, press release, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office announced, “On X, formerly known as Twitter, Governor Abbott earlier this week shared the news that Texas arrested a known member of the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) in Texas. The Governor emphasized that Texas will continue to track down known or suspected members of this vicious gang, arrest them, and put them behind bars.”
Additing additional context, it wrote, “[The] Public Safety Office is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members of TdA who have been or are involved in criminal activity and pose an increasing danger to the public safety of Texans.”
In the same document, the governor’s office explained Texas’s recent success in enforcing the border. The release said, “Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard continue to work together to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.”
Providing additional proof, Abbot’s press release stated, “Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 521,100 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 47,400 criminal arrests, with more than 41,000 felony charges. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 544 million lethal doses of fentanyl,” adding, “enough to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States and Mexico combined during this border mission.”
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Explaining Texas’s vital role in the border crisis, Abbott’s office wrote, “Texas has decreased illegal crossings into the state by over 86% due to our historic border security mission. Fewer illegal crossings into Texas means fewer migrants to transport to sanctuary cities.”
Concluding the document, the state official declared, “Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the federal government’s refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to open border policies.”