Texas DPS Gives Update on Border Operations Following Agreement for Border Wall Construction; Texas Authorities Apprehended 165,000 at Border Under State Effort

DPS gives update on border operations following agreement for border wall construction:

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Military Department (TMD) held their weekly media briefing on Thursday to provide an update on Operation Lone Star.

This was the first briefing following an agreement that will allow border wall construction on state-owned land in the Rio Grande Valley.

The briefing was led by DPS South Texas Region Media Lt. Christopher Olivarez and TMD Major Michael Perry.

Olivarez gave an update on the total number of apprehensions and drugs seized.

According to officials, since March 4, there have been:

• Over 165,000 migrant apprehensions 
• Over 1,000 vehicle pursuits
• Over 13,000 pounds of marijuana 
• 2,425 pounds of cocaine
• Over 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine
• 157 pounds of fentanyl
• 37 pounds of heroin
• Over $7 million seized

Olivarez spoke of an incident that occurred on Friday, Nov. 26 in Hidalgo County. —>READ MORE HERE

Texas authorities apprehended 165,000 at border under state effort:

Texas law enforcement and soldiers sent to the border under a state initiative that began in March have encountered more than 165,000 people presumed to have illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border or are themselves smuggling people, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesman for the Texas DPS’s South Region, said during a press conference Thursday that his agency’s troopers, along with National Guard soldiers, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have apprehended and referred 165,000 people to relevant law enforcement for arrest over the past nine months.

The large majority of the 165,000 were apprehended and referred to another agency, such as the U.S. Border Patrol, for arrest. The National Guard apprehended 84,000 of the 165,000.

Approximately 9,900 of the 165,000 were arrested on criminal trespassing charges, including 2,200 in the Del Rio, Texas, region, where tens of thousands of Haitian migrants came across the border in September and created a makeshift camp under the international bridge. —>READ MORE HERE

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