The Texas Department of Public Safety has announced the arrests of 12 illegal aliens of special interest—some of whom were wanted for sex trafficking and human smuggling crimes.
According to DPS, the illegal aliens arrested were part of a larger list used by agents in selection of the top 10 most wanted aliens in Texas—two of whom have already been apprehended.
Among those captured by DPS was Samuel Alexander Castro-Canas, an illegal alien originally from El Salvador who was detained in Huntsville on June 25. Castro-Canas has a history of arrests for various crimes including smuggling of persons—three counts of which he has been wanted in Kinney County since November of last year.
Juan Herrera-Lizama, Rigoberto Arman Arevalo-Zavala, and Pedro Constanza-Lopez are three other illegal aliens from El Salvador arrested in addition to Castro-Canas.
Herrera-Lizama was arrested in Garland on June 13 with a criminal history of arrests for drunk driving, prostitution, and evading law enforcement. In addition to being previously removed from the U.S. in May of 2022, he has been wanted out of Dallas County for indecency with a child.
Arevalo-Zavala was caught in Houston three days before Herrera-Lizama. After receiving information regarding his whereabouts, DPS special agents coordinated with Texas Highway Patrol Troopers and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to locate and arrest Arevalo-Zavala. Reasons for his prior arrests include alien removal and drunk driving.
Constanza-Lopez, the final alien from El Salvador captured, was arrested in late May for indecent sexual contact with a child, intoxicated driving, and being an alien present without admission or parole.
Raysel Carrion-Tamayo was caught in late June in Del Valle. From Cuba, Carrion-Tamayo has a lengthy criminal history of sex-related crimes. These include commercial sex trafficking, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated promotion of prostitution, trafficking of persons: continuous sexual assault and alien inadmissibility.
Alex Adriel Rios-Guzman came from Honduras. Arrested in Wichita Falls on June 11, he has been detained several times before for crimes including drunk driving, marijuana possession, and alien inadmissibility and without parole.
Mario Samuel Asencio is an illegal alien from Guatemala. He was arrested previously for deadly conduct-discharging of a firearm at individuals, driving while intoxicated, and illegal residency in the country (without admission or parole).
Five of the 12 illegal aliens initially entered the country from Mexico. Charli Cordova Perez was arrested on June 13, Alvina Sanchez-Castaneda on June 10 in Austin, Juan Francisco Molina-Garcia and Jesus Medina on June 5, and Israel Armando Salazar-Tovar on May 29 in Waco.
“DPS Special Agents continue working with local and federal law enforcement agencies to apprehend more criminal illegal immigrant fugitives that have been identified across the state of Texas,” DPS wrote in a public statement.
