Gov. Greg Abbott visited the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday to announce hundreds of criminal arrests and thousands of immigration referrals as part of the ongoing Texas Department of Public Safety’s Operation Lone Star.
The initiative began March 4 to fill in gaps on roadways as federal agents were moved closer to the river to assist with a rise in border migration. Abbott visited the Rio Grande Valley on March 9 and said they intended to interrupt drug smuggling efforts.
During the 28 days since the operation started, troopers have made 598 arrests for state crimes and referred more than 16,000 migrants to Border Patrol agents.
Arrests included crimes like human smuggling, drug possession and sexual assault, DPS Director Steven McCraw said.
Troopers surged to Starr County in early March, but DPS Director Steve McCraw said they also surged to Del Rio.
“The one thing that shifted from the last time that the governor had a press conference was the Del Rio Sector. It became the number two sector in Texas, and that’s never happened before,” McCraw said. “The governor had us increase our tempo and resources within the Del Rio Sector, as well.”
McCraw said troopers were moved to 12-hour shifts.
During the press conference, Abbot held up photos from Tik Tok accounts that posted images showing money with captions reading: “need drivers ASAP Puro dinero REZIO,” meaning fast money, and “Ocupó choferes, 0% miedo al éxito,” meaning they’re hiring fearless chauffeurs.
“Social media — who would have thought that they’re advertising for more coyotes?” McCraw said about the “brazen” advertisements. “They need more smugglers to come from San Antonio and Houston. We didn’t see that before.”
Troopers have also arrested 9 gang-affiliated people and seized over 14 pounds of cocaine, 23 firearms and over a million dollars in currency.
Certain troopers working with a special operations team are also helping migrants in emergency situations near the riverbanks. One trooper explained how he helped save a child from a mother who was half submerged in the river and clinging to a tree with one arm.
Over 500 Texas National Guard personnel are also part of the border deployment. Major General Tracy Norris said they quickly set up a number of observation and listening posts.
“Our role is to add eyes and ears to DPS, as well as Customs and Border Protection, in order to detect, identify and recognize any illegal activity that is going on and call it in,” Norris said, explaining they employ multi-sensor systems.
Operation Lone Star is in place in Starr County for 60 days, according to county officials, but there is no indication how long the operation will remain in place.
