Texas Now Has Over 532,000 Illegal Alien Apprehensions Since Operation Lone Star Began

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, in Texas, the multi-agency effort has led to:

● over 532,800 illegal immigrant apprehensions,

● more than 52,900 criminal arrests, with more than 44,800 felony charges.

● Texas law enforcement has seized over 671 million lethal doses of fentanyl—enough to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States, Mexico, and Canada combined during this border mission.

“Operation Lone Star continues working to undo the damage done by the Biden Administration,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott noted last week. “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.”

“President Trump promised he would secure the border, and in fact, he’s done that,” said Governor Abbott. “[President] Joe Biden was allowing thousands of people to cross a day and then let them loose in the United States. Today, there’s no crossing at [Eagle Pass]. In February, we set an all-time record low for the number of people who cross the border illegally. There’s hardly anybody crossing our border. So once again, we have President Trump living up to his promise to secure the border on day one.”

Earlier this month, DPS captured another fugitive from Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List.

■ Carlos Venegas Ortiz, 46, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, who was wanted out of Tarrant County since October 2024 for continuous sexual abuse of a young child, was taken into custody at an apartment complex in Haltom City on Wednesday, April 9.

Working in coordination with Special Agents from DPS’s Criminal Investigations Division, Haltom City Police Department Officers, along with members of the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force, located and arrested Ortiz.

Last summer, Governor Abbott launched the Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List to locate and arrest repeat offenders who have entered the country illegally and are wanted for dangerous crimes committed in Texas.

Abbott said on X Sunday that illegal border crossings have slowed to a crawl as a result of President Donald Trump’s strong border policies.

“Operation Lone Star personnel continue working with our federal partners to secure the southern border to keep America safe.”

■ Last week, DPS troopers were led on a high-speed pursuit by a smuggler driving a red Dodge Ram on IH-35 in Webb County.

The smuggler, John Henry Romero, a Mexican Mafia gang member from Rio Bravo, Mexico, crashed into a private ranch fence and continued evading through the property before bailing out of the vehicle. With assistance from Border Patrol, he was located and arrested.

Four illegal immigrants from Mexico, including a 15-year-old, were also apprehended. Romero is charged with three counts of smuggling of persons, one count of smuggling of persons under 18, evading arrest, reckless driving, and criminal mischief.

■ Last Thursday, a human smuggler driving a red Chevy Tahoe led DPS troopers on a high-speed pursuit on IH-35 in Webb County.

The smuggler, Carlos Alejandro Hernandez Briones, from Laredo, crashed into two vehicles during the pursuit.

Briones and two illegal immigrants eventually bailed out of the vehicle and jumped into the Rio Grande River. DPS troopers deployed a rescue grab line to prevent Briones from drowning as the two illegal immigrants swam back across to Mexico.

Five additional illegal immigrants were located inside the Tahoe and referred to Border Patrol. Briones was arrested and charged with five counts of smuggling of persons, evading arrest, and reckless driving.

DPS K-9s Shark and Bona and their handlers, along with DPS’ Border Mounted Patrol Unit, assisted Border Patrol in the apprehension of 19 illegal immigrants in South Texas between April 11 and April 16.

K-9s Shark and Bona tracked the illegal immigrants through thick brush in Maverick, Dimmit, and Webb counties. Earlier in April, K-9 Bona and her handler also tracked down a group of illegal immigrants over nearly two miles in Webb County.

K-9s in Action

3 Bundles of Drugs Found

On April 13, DPS Special Agents responded to the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso regarding three subjects believed to be attempting to smuggle narcotics into the United States via internal concealment. One subject voluntarily consented to be medically examined while DPS obtained body cavity search warrants for the other two subjects.

After a thorough search, a total of three bundles of M-30 fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder, and methamphetamine were recovered. Special Agents arrested one female subject for the manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance.

☆☆☆☆