Texas DPS officers arrest confirmed MS-13 gang member at southern border

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MS-13 by ©Joaquincorbalan.com 2022 is licensed under 583822881 Joaquin Corbalan - stock.adobe.com
MAVERICK COUNTY, TX – Earlier in August, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers arrested a confirmed MS-13 gang member along the southern border near Eagle Pass, with the individual reportedly harboring a serious criminal history such as kidnapping and sexual offenses.

The gang member was reportedly arrested as a result of the ongoing Operation Lone Star efforts in Texas.

Emerson Lopez Fugon, the MS-13 gang member who reportedly hails form Honduras, was apprehended by Texas DPS officers after he was located hiding on a train near the Egle Pass area. Officials say Fulton is also a registered sex offender.

Texas DPS spokesman Lieutenant Chris Olivarez issued a statement commending the work of officers, as well as the overall efforts put into motion under Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.

“If not for [Texas DPS] & [Governor Greg Abbott’s] Operation Lone Star, Lopez Fugon, a confirmed MS-13 gang member [with] a violent criminal history, would have made it further into the interior," Lt. Olivarez said. "It’s the men & women who proudly wear the Texas Tan that are on the front lines arresting criminals & protecting our state & country.”



MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, is a gang known primarily for their brutal violence enacted toward perceived enemies. Having originally formed in the 1980s in Los Angeles as a typical street gang aiming to protect Salvadorian immigrants, the gang evolved over time to become the unsettling criminal outfit it’s known as today.

The gang, whose motto roughly translates to “kill, rape, control,” found one of their members in 2020 to receive the first terrorism charge in relation to the gang’s activities.

Then-Attorney General Bill Barr noted the historic nature of the charges lobbed against one of the group members at the time, signaling the administration’s efforts to put an end to the horrific violence brought about by the gang in the United States.

“This is the first time we’ve used terrorism-related charges against a member of MS-13,” he said. Barr added that the manner in which MS-13 operates isn’t motivated by what many would consider typical gang driving forces, such as simple monetary profits from illicit trades, but rather a desire to be the most feared amongst their criminal peers.

“It is about the honor of being the most savage, blood-thirsty person you can be and building up a reputation as a killer.”

Back on August 5th, local law enforcement in Fronton, Texas, spotted suspected armed cartel members crossing into the United States. Surveillance photos depicted three unidentified armed men, one of whom appears to have been wearing some sort of body armor.

Despite Border Patrols agents being dispatched to the area shortly after receiving the intel, the three individuals were nowhere to be found.

 
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