The suspects included “21 gang members, two sex offenders, and three migrants previously convicted of robbery, battery, and evading arrest,” the agency stated, adding that they were members of MS-13 and the “18th Street” gang.
One of the illegal immigrants apprehended was a female Salvadoran gang member with a conviction for aggravated murder. Authorities with the Harlingen Border Patrol Station arrested her on August 29, according to CBP.
Another subject had been sentenced to two years in prison on a charge of indecency with a child by contact. Officers took him into custody on August 29 in the Brownsville Border Patrol Station’s jurisdiction.
The same day, a Guatemalan illegal immigrant wanted in Houston on suspicion of indecency with a child was arrested by Kingsville border guards, per CBP.
In a social media post on Tuesday, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz listed some enforcement statistics from the Labor Day weekend that included drug seizures and arrests of illegal aliens.
“The dangers are real. Great work by our agents,” Ortiz wrote.
The chief indicated that border agents confiscated 71 pounds of methamphetamine and 100 pills of fentanyl. They also arrested almost 2,700 people believed to be in the country illegally, 10 suspected sex offenders, four alleged gang members, one person accused of injury to a child, and another wanted for murder.
CBP agents confiscated approximately 11,200 pounds of fentanyl in Fiscal Year 2021 and have seized about 10,600 pounds so far this fiscal year, according to federal statistics current through July.
However, another 47,000 fentanyl pills were seized in Arizona on September 3, according to Port Director Michael W. Humphrines.
In July, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody commented that fentanyl ought to be classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
“The federal government already works to disrupt the supply chains of other chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons — it’s not hard to imagine that similar tactics could be used to reduce the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. through cartels in Mexico — and save countless American lives,” Moody reportedly said.
A deadly overdose of fentanyl is approximately two milligrams, per the Drug Enforcement Administration.
###
Disclosure: Unlike almost every other media outlet, The Texan is not beholden to any special interests, does not apply for any type of state or federal funding, and relies exclusively on its readers for financial support. If you’d like to become one of the people we’re financially accountable to, click here to subscribe.
Hayden Sparks
Hayden Sparks is a senior reporter for The Texan and a lifelong resident of the Lone Star State. He has coached competitive speech and debate and has been involved in politics since a young age. One of Hayden's favorite quotes is by Sam Houston: "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
