Previously Deported Child-Rape Fugitive Found on Smuggling Aircraft near Border in Texas

Texas DPS and federal special agents stopped another human smuggling incident utilizing aircraft to move migrants into the U.S. interior. This incident included the arrest of a previously deported fugitive wanted in Wisconsin for the Sexual Assault of a Child.

Texas DPS special investigators teamed up with Border Patrol agents and Homeland Security Investigations special agents to interdict an aircraft being utilized for human smuggling at the airport in Weslaco, Texas, according to a tweet from DPS officials. The aircraft carried six migrants from El Salvador and Mexico.

2/ Further investigation revealed that one of the males, Ivan Flores-Rivas, 38, of MX, was a previously deported felon who was wanted in Wisconsin for sexual assault of a child. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/T8ietdGl7k

— TxDPS – South Texas Region (@TxDPSSouth) September 27, 2022

Officials report the migrants — two female and four male — were to be flown from Weslaco to Houston. Law enforcement officials arrested three people. DPS officials reported the migrants carried fake Texas identification cards with addresses in the Houston metropolitan area.

During a records check, officials identified one of the men as Ivan Flores-Rivas, a 38-year-old Mexican national. A search of law enforcement databases led to the information that Flores-Rivas had previously been deported as a convicted felon for illegal re-entry after removal. He is also reported to be wanted in Wisconsin for the Sexual Assault of a Child.

Texas DPS spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez told Breitbart Texas this is the third human smuggling incident utilizing aircraft interdicted by the agency in less than 30 days. On Friday, DPS investigators stopped an aircraft at the airport in McAllen, Texas, as it prepared to depart, Breitbart Texas reported.

WESLACO–A @TxDPS Special Agent & Pilot stopped a human smuggling attempt at McCreery Aviation Co. in McAllen, TX. 19 illegal immigrants (12m/7f) from Central America were being smuggled by plane to Houston, TX. This was a collaborative effort by #USBP & #HSI. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/rgWPOxIaW8

— TxDPS – South Texas Region (@TxDPSSouth) September 24, 2022

Another incident took place on August 30. All three flights from different airports in the Rio Grande Valley area were headed to Houston’s Hobby Airport. This flight carried 13 migrants from the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

.@TxDPS Pilot disrupted a human smuggling attempt by plane at a private airport in Edinburg. 2 human smugglers attempted to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic & El Salvador by chartering a plane to Houston. The smugglers were arrested. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/GTVeBf8zva

— TxDPS – South Texas Region (@TxDPSSouth) September 1, 2022

Olivares said one of the migrants told investigators he paid $11,000 to smugglers for the flight from South Texas to Houston. This was on top of the $7,000 he previously paid to be smuggled into the U.S.

Border Patrol agents also interdicted a fourth aircraft this month being utilized to smuggle migrants, Olivares stated.