Federal immigration and border enforcement agencies in Texas reported a sweeping series of arrests and seizures this week, ranging from hundreds of alleged criminal aliens in Houston to a multimillion-dollar cocaine bust on the southern border and a fugitive’s capture in Dallas.
1. ICE Houston Nets 822 in Weeklong Operation
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Houston office said it arrested 822 people between August 17 and August 23 in an operation focused on “enhancing public safety in Southeast Texas.”
The agency missive claimed the weeklong sweep included five alleged transnational gang members, seven child predators, and three people convicted of homicide-related offenses.
“During the past four years, transnational gang members, foreign fugitives and other violent criminal aliens took advantage of the crisis at our southern border to illegally enter the country,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez. “Many of them remained in the Houston area and have gone on to wreak havoc in our local communities.”
ICE listed several individuals by name, including a Guatemalan man convicted of sexual assault of a child in 2024 and a Salvadoran fugitive wanted for aggravated homicide. The agency also said 330 of those arrested had previously been ordered removed from the United States, while about 112 had been deported and reentered illegally at least once.
2. Border Agents Seize $2.2 Million in Cocaine
On September 9, Jason E. Schneider, the acting chief patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley Sector, announced that federal and state officers had seized more than 30 kilograms of cocaine.
According to Schneider, agents with the RGV Special Operations Detachment and Texas Department of Public Safety recovered “30 bricks of cocaine (31.5 kg) worth $2.2M.”
“COCAINE SEIZURE RGV Special Operations Detachment & Texas DPS seized 30 bricks of cocaine (31.5 kg) worth $2.2M. A direct hit on the cartels poisoning America. Strong teamwork stopping drugs at the border. Border security is national security. HONOR FIRST!” Schneider wrote on X.
3. ERO Dallas Arrests Previously Deported Man
In Dallas, ICE reported the arrest of Santiago Cabello-Peralta, a 31-year-old Mexican national with a criminal record.
The Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas office X account said Cabello-Peralta had been deported before and was “caught with a criminal past and a weapon during a felony.” The post added that “during the encounter, he attempted to evade arrest by fleeing on foot.”
Texas Takedown Weekly is a recurring series from The Dallas Express chronicling the most significant immigration-related arrests and interdictions across the state. To read last week’s edition, click Texas Takedown Weekly: Aliens, Weed, And Toolbox Smugglers Nabbed (September 5, 2025).
