Texas DPS captures Paisa gang member

Texas Department of Public Safety agents have arrested a member of the Paisa Gang, an independent drug trafficking organization.

Jesus Alejandro, 40, is an illegal alien from Mexico who has been confirmed as a member of the gang. He was arrested along with two other teenage smugglers.

One of the two teenage smugglers is named Sebastian Garcia, 17 years old. The other was 16 years old.

The trio were captured in Sullivan City by the DPS brush team, which was conducting an anti-smuggling operation with the U.S. Border Patrol. They had previously led a group of illegal aliens across the Rio Grande in a river transport vehicle.

“Troopers disrupted the human smuggling attempt and arrested the trio for human smuggling,” DPS spokesman Chris Olivarez posted Wednesday on X. “The 16-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention center. #USBP took 4 illegal immigrants into custody.”

This comes as both DPS and Border Patrol continue to target criminal organizations, gangs, and human trafficking. Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced new efforts to continue ongoing law enforcement operations targeting transnational criminal organizations.

Troy A. Miller, a senior official with CBP, will expand drug enforcement along the southwest land border, from El Paso to San Diego.

“These ruthless criminal organizations spread chaos and profit from human suffering. They smuggle illegal drugs into our country that find their way into our communities,” he said.

Yet human traffickers appear to be developing new, innovative tactics to covertly transport illegal aliens.

One such strategy is to use locally stolen license plates to avoid detection. Often, license plates are removed from residents’ cars that match those used in smuggling operations in certain cities, such as Sabinal, located in Uvalde County in South Texas.

According to Sabinal Police Chief Jesus “Chuy” Reyes, if a smuggler drives his vehicle with stolen plates from the border to a major city like Austin or Houston, license plate mix-ups help alleviate suspicion. “We still may have vehicles here that people don’t know they have,” he said. “They never check their plates,” he explained.

Will Biagini

Will was born in Louisiana and raised in a military family. He is currently a journalist at Texas Scorecard. He was previously a senior correspondent for Campus Reform.