U.S. Customs and Border Protection

LAREDO – (News Release) In two separate events, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a criminal with an active warrant and a self-proclaimed gang member who had attempted to cross illegally with a group of undocumented individuals near Laredo, Texas.

During the early morning of March 17, agents from the Laredo West Station apprehended a group of undocumented individuals while working their assigned duties northwest of the city.  Record checks on one of the individuals within the group, identified as Tomas Lopez-Lopez, a 40-year-old Mexican national, revealed that he had an active warrant out of Austin, Texas.  Lopez-Lopez was turned over to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office to be extradited back to Austin, Texas.

Later that same morning, agents from the Laredo South Station responded to and apprehended eight undocumented individuals near the Rio Grande in west Laredo. Among the group, agents identified Miguel Angel Guel-Palacios, a 37-year-old Mexican national, a self-admitted member of the notorious Sureños gang with a criminal history.  Guel-Palacios will be prosecuted for his immigration violation and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.