Sex Offenders, Gang Members Arrested After Crossing Texas Border

Border Patrol agents and CBP officers in South Texas arrested multiple deported sex offenders, a fugitive accused of rape, and two MS-13 gang members. The arrests come as agents in Texas-based border sectors face a massing surge in migrants illegally entering the United States.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer assigned to the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge in Laredo, Texas, on August 18 observed a vehicle approaching for inspection and entry into the U.S. The officer referred the driver to a secondary inspection area for investigation, according to information received from CBP officials.

During a secondary inspection, officers conducted a biometric background search and identified one man as Jose Jorge Romanis Beltran, a 28-year-old Mexican national. The search of the criminal databases uncovered an active felony warrant from Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

The fugitive is wanted on a charge of rape — strong-arm, officials stated. New Mexico law defines “strong-arm” rape as the use of force by the attacker without the use of a weapon.

CBP officers confirmed the active arrest warrant and arrested the fugitive. They turned the Mexican national over to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office where he will await extradition to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office in Albuquerque.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Hebbronville Station on August 15 arrested a group of 11 migrants on a farm located southwest of Mirando City, Texas, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials. During processing, the agents identified one of the men as Israel Hernandez-Valente, a 42-year-old Mexican national.

A criminal database search revealed a previous conviction for Indecency with a Child, Sexual Contact in 2017, officials stated.

Two days earlier, Laredo South Station agents arrested a group of ten migrants in south Laredo. During processing, the agents identified one of the men as Juan Martinez-Martinez, a 33-year-old Mexican national. Court records indicate Martinez-Martinez has an extensive criminal history. His criminal record includes a conviction in Arkansas for Sexual Assault in 2009, the report revealed.

Agents turned both men over to U.S. Marshall’s Service deputies to await prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal. If convicted, the two men could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

Further south along the Texas border, Rio Grande Valley Sector agents apprehended two members of the hyperviolent transnational criminal gang, MS-13.

McAllen Station agents working the border near Mission, Texas, on August 14 apprehended a group of migrants after they illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico, officials reported. During processing, agents identified one of the men as a 44-year-old Salvadoran national who is a confirmed MS-13 gang member. A records check uncovered a conviction by a California court in 1996 for murder. That same year, he received a conviction for being an accessory to a felony. For those crimes, he received sentences of three years each and was later deported. In 2005, a federal court convicted him of illegal re-entry after deportation. For that, he received a sentence of 71 months — nearly double that of the sentence he received for murder by the California court.

On August 16, Falfurrias Station agents found another MS-13 gang member while patrolling the ranches near the U.S. Highway 281 immigration checkpoint. Agents confirmed he is an MS-13 gang member who had previously been deported from the U.S.

“U.S. Border Patrol has arrested 8,531 criminal migrants this fiscal year,” Border Patrol officials stated. “RGV agents apprehended more than 1,700 of those migrants.”