Five Gang Members, Sex Offenders Arrested at Border over July 4 Weekend

Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio Sectors arrested five criminal gang members and two deported sex offenders over the Independence Day weekend.

In the Rio Grande Valley Sector, McAllen Station agents captured three members of the hyperviolent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members. During a background investigation, agents found one of the men had a 2010 assault conviction which resulted in a seven-month jail sentence in Maryland. A second gang member received two years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Houston. That criminal alien was deported in 2021.

McAllen Station agents also arrested a member of the Mexican Valluco gang near Hidalgo, Texas. This criminal alien had convictions for larceny and public order crimes as well as a federal immigration conviction for illegal re-entry after removal.

Harlingen Station agents received a request for assistance from TSA officials at the Harlingen International Airport to identify a suspected illegal alien. Agents identified the man as a Salvadoran national illegally present in the U.S. The man revealed his membership in the 18th Street gang and said he served 12 years in a Salvadoran prison for aggravated robbery.

McAllen Station agents also apprehended a group of six migrants near Mission, Texas, on July 1. Hiding in the group was a Mexican national who received a 29-month jail sentence in Michigan for criminal sexual conduct. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers deported the man through Brownsville, Texas, in 2020.

In the Del Rio Sector, Bracketteville Station agents arrested a group of 11 migrants on July 2. The migrants marched through the brush in an attempt to avoid detection and apprehension. During processing at the station, agents identified one of the men as a Guatemalan national with a criminal history.

Agents identified the Guatemalan man as 36-year-old Hector Portillo-Soto. A Louisiana court convicted the Guatemalan man for rape in 2019. The court sentenced him to three years in prison. ERO officers deported the man to Guatemala in February of this year.

The criminal aliens with histories of deportations now face federal felony charges for illegal re-entry after removal. If convicted, each could face up to 20 years in federal prison.