McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety recently arrested two immigrants who they say are fugitives who were both stopped for traffic violations in South Texas.
On Feb. 12, DPS troopers in Laredo pulled over truck driver Junior Adalid Montoya-Alvarez, 49, a Honduran national who resided in the United States with lawful permanent status.
Once the tractor-trailer came to a stop, DPS says Montoya-Alvarez and several immigrants ran from the vehicle into nearby brush.
Montoya-Alvarez was arrested with seven others — all from Guatemala and Mexico — and he was charged with smuggling persons.
Officials say he also was wanted on a warrant out of Harris County on sexual assault charges.
Sexual assault of a child warrant
Armando Alonso-Cortez, 40, a Mexican national, was arrested Feb. 6 during a traffic stop by DPS troopers in Sullivan City, officials said.
Alonso-Cortez had a warrant issued by the Alton Police Department for sexual assault of a child and was considered a flight risk, DPS says.
Texas DPS are part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star state-funded border security initiative.
DPS law enforcement have been deployed to the Texas-Mexico border as part of tactical strike teams to help locate and arrest criminal immigrants who are in the country illegally.
The state has spent over $11 billion on border security since 2011 and has asked the federal government for reimbursements.
Ordered removed
DPS troopers and special agents arrested a criminal immigrant from Venezuelan during a traffic stop Feb. 11 in Socorro, Texas, near El Paso.
Carlos Daniel Espinoza-Arguello 26, had a removal order from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and was a person of interest in a DPS Criminal Investigations Division case for sexual assault of a child, according to a DPS news release.
DPS said ERO processed Espinoza-Arguello and released him to DPS Special Agents to be interviewed. Espinoza-Arguello was subsequently arrested and booked into the El Paso County Jail.
His arrest led DPS special agents and ERO agents to a stash house in the area where two undocumented immigrants from Venezuela were taken into custody.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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