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SAN ANTONIO — Federal authorities say more than 140 people were taken into custody during a court-authorized operation on San Antonio’s North Side early Sunday — an action that federal officials now say is among the first carried out by a new Homeland Security Task Force in South Texas.
The task force, led jointly by FBI San Antonio and Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio, was formally announced Monday. It is part of a national initiative created under Executive Order 14159 and aims to coordinate multi-agency efforts to target transnational criminal organizations operating in the region.
Sunday’s operation unfolded around 3 a.m. near the intersection of San Pedro Avenue and Basse Road. Agents from the FBI San Antonio Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the San Antonio Police Department executed a state search warrant in a commercial food truck area.
Local TV footage from KSAT showed numerous marked and unmarked law-enforcement vehicles and several individuals being detained.
FBI and HSI said the operation was connected to an effort to disrupt the criminal presence of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-origin gang. According to the statement, more than 140 undocumented individuals from Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico and other South American countries were taken into ICE custody.
Federal officials said the search was supported by a DPS investigation that led to the underlying warrant. They highlighted it as an early example of the type of coordinated enforcement the newly established Homeland Security Task Force in South Texas is expected to carry out.
“The Homeland Security Task Force was established as a powerful tool in the fight against transnational organized crime,” said FBI San Antonio Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran, in the press release. “In close collaboration with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, we are dedicated to dismantling the cartels and criminal networks responsible for violent crime, human trafficking and drug smuggling with the ultimate goal of preserving the safety and security of the communities we serve.”
The task force includes dozens of federal, state and local agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
