As the border crisis continues, an illegal alien—Alfredo Gonzalez-Diaz—was sentenced to 175 months in federal prison following a law enforcement raid on his residence in Houston that uncovered weapons, drugs, and cartel cash.
A Mexican citizen and illegal alien in the U.S., Gonzalez-Diaz was initially the target of an investigation by a multi-agency Drug Enforcement Agency strike force for his ties to the notoriously violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani disclosed that Gonzalez-Diaz was found in possession of “a rocket launcher, two rocket propelled grenades, 8.5 kilos of heroin, and lots, and lots, of cash.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Southern Texas announced additional details last week, including that he possessed “approximately two kilograms of cocaine,” “additional guns, ammunition, and $111,762 in drug proceeds,” and that “the weapons were destined for imminent distribution to the CJNG in Mexico.”
As Gonzalez-Diaz was residing in Houston illegally, he will likely be deported after serving his sentence.
This case is just one in a series of the ever-increasing border crisis in Texas as the state government and the Biden administration have been criticized for failing to secure the border, opening the state to illegal trafficking and border crossings.
Indeed, just north of Houston is the cartel-infested illegal alien settlement, Colony Ridge—propped up by Terrenos Houston—which caters specifically to illegal aliens.
Furthermore, the porous border has enabled cartels to transport massive amounts of opioids over the southern border, resulting in record-high opioid overdoses in the U.S.
Chris Russo, the president of Texans for Strong Borders, told Texas Scorecard, “The failure to secure our border has resulted in not only an unprecedented flow of illegal aliens into our state, but increasingly an insurgency of narcoterrorist cartel operations in our own communities.”
He addressed the Gonzalez-Diaz case, saying, “This apprehension including heavy weaponry should sound the alarm for any Texans who still aren’t paying attention: the cartels are here, and they are more sophisticated than ever before.”
Russo urged the Texas government to act:
The first step to rooting out cartel human smuggling and trafficking is to secure our border and cut off the billions of dollars in revenue they take in each year. Governor Abbott must call a special session to address this issue at multiple levels: border security, access to illegal employment, cracking down on local corruption catering to illegal alien presence, and taxpayer subsidies to illegal aliens.
Currently, the state Legislature is in its second special session solely on the issue of property taxes, though Abbott has indicated he will add items to the call in the coming months.
