(RightWing.org) – Frustrated by Biden administration policies that fail to secure the border and “invite illegal immigration,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) launched Operation Lone Star (OLS) in March 2021 to combat the smuggling of drugs and people into his state. Since then, officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas National Guard (TNG) have made more than 31,000 criminal arrests. The DPS recently distributed a statement to local news agencies detailing the arrest of several individuals with ties to Mexican cartels as part of OLS’s continuing joint operation.
On November 13, El Paso-based NBC affiliate KTSM-TV reported that DPS officials arrested four local people for their role in an alleged human smuggling operation and other related charges as part of OLS. A review of court documents provided to the news agency by the DPS confirmed that New Mexico residents Gustavo Enriquez Acosta and Adam Isaiah Ramirez, along with Mexican nationals Edmundo Rodriguez Padilla and Lorena Anyla Acosta, face multiple local and federal officials.
Four people were arrested in connection to an alleged human smuggling ring and other related charges last month. KTSM has obtained federal court documents that reveal what led up to those arrests. https://t.co/vkBDt5B50N
— KTSM 9 News (@KTSMtv) November 14, 2023
Court documents confirmed that Enriquez Acosta worked as a state-level police officer in Mexico. Additionally, he didn’t have the proper documentation to reside in the United States.
The sting operation led to the seizure of thousands of ammunition rounds, dozens of guns, and several sets of body armor. The four arrestees face several felony charges that include:
- Conspiracy to transport and harbor
- Human smuggling
- Illegal alien in possession of a firearm
- Unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon
On November 21, the El Paso Times published an article detailing the criminal defendants’ purported ties to Mexican cartels. The periodical reported that they allegedly worked as scouts and “heavily armed security” for a migrant trafficking ring operating in Sunland Park, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
In turn, that trafficking ring has ties to Mexico’s La Linea and the New Juárez cartels. Officials seized cellphones and collected social media videos and photos from the arrestees of gunmen wearing body armor and “paying tribute to La Linea Cartel” officials.
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