A member of the Sinaloa cartel was arrested in Texas by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the weekend and was found to be carrying three rifles, two pistols and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition, sources tell Fox News. 

The individual — who is from Mexico — was taken into custody in El Paso, the sources added. Across the U.S., ICE operations this past weekend resulted in more than 1,000 arrests.

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last year that the U.S. is facing the "most dangerous and deadly drug crisis" in its history with fentanyl and methamphetamine flowing across the border — and that the "Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels are at the heart of this crisis." 

"They operate clandestine labs in Mexico where they manufacture these drugs and then utilize their vast distribution networks to transport the drugs into the United States," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram wrote in her agency’s annual National Drug Threat Assessment.

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"The Sinaloa Cartel also uses border tunnels to cross drugs into the United States undetected," she added. "Most of the tunnels are not built by the cartel but are part of the border cities’ sewage and water systems." 

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Last week, alleged Sinaloa cartel cell leader Octavio Leal-Hernandez, who "is believed responsible for trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana into the United States from Mexico," entered a not guilty plea during a federal court appearance following his extradition from Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said. 

The alleged Sinaloa member’s arrest in El Paso comes as reports are also emerging that the Trump administration is pushing ICE to increase the number of arrests per day from a few hundred to between at least 1,200 to 1,500 people.  

Citing four sources who spoke on condition of anonymity about a purported internal call with ICE officials on Saturday, The Washington Post first reported about the new objective, categorizing the 1,200 to 1,500 daily targets as "quotas," although a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News, "Goals is the correct phrasing." 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. 

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas repatriated a Mexican national who was living in Houston, and wanted in his native country for raping a child.

ICE said in a news release that 58-year-old Nestor Flores Encarnacion, an undocumented alien, was repatriated to Mexico on Thursday.

Flores, who is wanted in Veracruz, Mexico, for the rape of a child, illegally entered the U.S. four times.

On Thursday, deportation officers with ICE transported Flores to the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo, Texas, where he was transferred into the custody of Mexican authorities.

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"This foreign fugitive brazenly entered the U.S. in violation of our nation’s laws on four separate occasions to evade prosecution in Mexico for allegedly raping a child," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford said. "Dangerous foreign fugitives and criminal aliens who are accused of, or have committed, heinous crimes like sexually assaulting a child will find no safe haven in Southeast Texas."

According to ICE, Flores entered the U.S. illegally on Feb. 16, 2002, near Roma, Texas, and the next day, he was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol and returned to Mexico.

But he returned to the U.S. days later on Feb. 20, 2002, and again two days later on Feb. 22. Both times, ICE said, he was arrested by Border Patrol officers and voluntarily returned to Mexico the same day.

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Flores entered the country again for a fourth time at an unknown location and unknown date.

On Aug. 23, 2024, deportation officers from ERO Houston apprehended Flores at a residence in Houston after receiving notification that he was potentially residing in the Houston area. 

ERO Houston was also notified that Flores was wanted in Mexico for rape.

After being apprehended, Flores was placed into immigration proceedings and granted a voluntary departure by an immigration judge with the Justice Department on Dec. 19, 2024.

"Our immigration officers work tirelessly to successfully locate and apprehend undocumented aliens in the Houston area who threaten public safety, national security, and border security, and will not rest until they’re repatriated to their country of origin and no longer a threat to the community," Bradford said.

Police in the Mexican state of Chihuahua believe that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua may be behind the murder of a Mexican immigration official just south of the U.S. border.

The Mexican immigration agent, Luis Alberto Olivas, was pushed down a hill and stoned to death by two Venezuelan migrants identified as David J.V. and Carlos Arichuna S.M. on Dec. 30. The murder took place by a military checkpoint close to Ciudad Juárez, just south of El Paso, Texas.

According to Border Report, Mexican authorities believe that at least one of the Venezuelans is suspected of being a member of Tren de Aragua (TdA), which is a transnational criminal organization that facilitates much of the drug and human trafficking in the area.

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Chihuahua Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya told Border Report that one of the alleged killers "has the tattoos that we have identified as probably linked to Tren de Aragua" and that police have shared this information with other agencies and are "waiting for the next binational meeting to have it checked in [American] databases."

The tattoo in question depicts an owl, a symbol that according to Mexican investigative journalist Luis Chaparro is "often found on Tren de Aragua members" and often indicates a human smuggler "guide."

According to local news source "El Diario MX," the two possible Tren de Aragua members threw stones at Olivas’ chest, pushed him, causing him to fall six meters down a hill, and then smashed his head with a large stone, killing him.

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TdA has been active on the U.S. southern border in recent weeks. On Dec. 31, the Texas Department of Public Safety caught four confirmed TdA members trying to sneak into the U.S illegally.

The individuals were identified as Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18. Ocando-Mejia had tattoos on his shoulders indicating he may hold rank or leadership within the gang.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has led many efforts to secure the border and clamp down on TdA, responded to the arrests by saying: "Our top priority is the safety and security of Texans, including against the growing threat of Tren de Aragua."