McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Two men featured on Texas’ new “10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants” list have been arrested, Gov. Greg Abbott announced.
Abbott announced the new Most Wanted list earlier this month as part of the state’s Operation Lone Star border security initiative.
It is under the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Crime Stoppers and cash rewards are being offered for tips leading to arrests, according to the DPS website.
No. 1 Most Wanted Victor Hugo Chox Gonzalez was apprehended, as was the No. 3 Most Wanted, Severando Trejo Duran, Abbott said.
Chox Gonzalez, 38, was wanted for aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by sexual contact, failure to identify and give false/fictitious information and failure to identify as a fugitive. He has a criminal history of child cruelty, assault to a family member, DWI with a child under age 15 and illegally entering the United States, according to DPS.
“In just 1 week, 2 criminals on Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants list were captured and put behind bars,” Abbott tweeted Thursday in a post on X.
Abbott says Texas is the first state to issue its own Most Wanted criminal list regarding immigrants who entered the state illegally.
“We have seen record high levels of illegal immigration, including dangerous criminals and terrorists who are a threat to the public safety of our state and our nation. These illegal immigrants will now be spotlighted on our 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List. Texas is a law-and-order state, and with the help of our fellow Texans, we will ensure that the illegal immigrants on this list are taken off our streets and put behind bars to keep our communities safe,” Abbott said in announcing the Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrant list on June 5.
“Texas is the first state to have a state-wide crackdown on these criminals with a Most Wanted List to try to locate them, identify them, and arrest them,” Abbott told FOX News. “This is once again what Texas is having to do to respond to Joe Biden’s open-border policies.”
The Top 10 list currently includes all men listed as White Hispanics. Nine of the 10 men are wanted for crimes relating to sexual assault or sex abuse and most with children. One man is wanted for smuggling or human trafficking. Another man is wanted for sexual assault and “terroristic threat,” according to DPS.
Their last known addresses ranged from Austin to Houston to Irving and El Paso, Texas.
Rewards offered range from $3,00 to $5,000.
Tips must be sent through the Texas 10 Most Wanted website, the state’s 10 Most Wanted Facebook page, or the DPS mobile app. All tips are anonymous.
Abbott touts the billions of dollars the state has spent on Operation Lone Star “with a decline of more than 74% in illegal immigration while at the very same time it’s going up in California, Arizona and New Mexico,” he told FOX News.
“It shows that enforcement works,” Abbott said.
On Monday on X, Abbott posted photos of Guard units installing concertina wire in Eagle Pass, Texas.
National Guard units install concertina wire in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Photos Courtesy Texas Gov. Greg Abbott)
“Texas’ historic border mission works day in and day out to fill the dangerous gaps created by Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Operation Lone Star personnel work around-the-clock to detect and repel illegal crossings, arrest human smugglers and cartel gang members, and stop the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl into our nation. While the federal government ignores this crisis, Texas is holding the line,” the Operation Lone Star website says.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.