Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers uncovered an alien smuggling scheme in the small border town of Eagle Pass that used a hotel room as a stash house to hide multiple illegal aliens. Acting on a tip, a search of the room led to the arrest of two suspected smugglers and four Honduran nationals illegally present in the United States, including a wanted fugitive.
The incident occurred on May 29 just after 12:00 a.m., when troopers arrived at the hotel and found a female suspect inside the room who allowed the troopers to search the room after a strong odor of marijuana was detected. The troopers entered the room and encountered a second female in the room who is also suspected of participating in the human smuggling scheme.
DPS spokesman, Lt. Chris Olivarez, posted body camera footage on social media showing the troopers enter the room to conduct a search after contacting the two suspects, who revealed the four illegal aliens hiding in the room. Texas authorities identified two of the men as Joseph Angel Guzman and Daniel Castillo Dionisio, both 21-year-old Honduran nationals with a history of illegal re-entry into the United States and alien inadmissibility, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Texas DPS troopers suspect the pair are both members of the Rollin’ 30’s Crips gang as well. Further investigation into the criminal history of those arrested in the operation revealed Dionisio is wanted by the New Orleans Police Department on multiple felony charges for armed robbery and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Troopers arrested Dionisio and booked him into the Maverick County Jail to await extradition to New Orleans on the existing warrants. Juella Monet Brown, 27, of Grandview, Missouri, and Starr Ricki Drake, 26, of Euless, Texas, were arrested and charged with operating a stash house and were booked into the Maverick County Jail to await prosecution on their state criminal charges.
Joseph Angel Gusman and two other Honduran illegal aliens were transferred to the custody of the Border Patrol for processing, potential federal prosecution, and removal. The arrests are part of Operation Lone Star, a long-running border security initiative commenced by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The operation continues even as border crossings have plummeted under President Trump’s strict border security measures. The measures have forced human smugglers to use stash houses and deep concealment techniques to hide illegal aliens inside vehicles to avoid detection or to move smuggled aliens through tough remote terrain to elude apprehension by the Border Patrol and the Texas Highway Patrol troopers.
Texas DPS Highway Patrol works to reduce the number of illegal aliens that evade arrest by the Border Patrol by patrolling remote highways, conducting tracking operations on foot and horseback in remote areas, and identifying stash houses using intelligence-based operations under Operation Lone Star.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patr