3 Arrested In El Paso Drug Bust; Firearms And Cocaine Seized

Three people were arrested at an apartment complex in El Paso's Lower Valley on Jan. 17, after they were found in possession of firearms and cocaine, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The suspects were identified as Arturo Ramirez Manzano, 27, also known as Tadeo, Mario Ivan Ramirez, 21, and Corina Hernandez, 30, all from El Paso. Officers seized two rifles and nearly one kilogram of cocaine during the operation after two warrants were served at the apartment complex, the Border Report mentioned.

DPS noted that all three suspects were convicted felons currently on federal probation. They were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance. The suspects were booked into the El Paso County Jail.

The arrests were part of an operation targeting members of a transnational criminal organization (TCO), according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The organization has ties to the La Empresa cartel and the Paisa prison gang, and its members are involved in crimes such as human smuggling, firearm possession, and drug trafficking.

DPS reported that Ramirez admitted to being a member of the Paisa prison gang and a key coordinator for a human smuggling group led by La Empresa, which operated in Juarez and the El Paso border area.

Ramirez has also been charged with deadly conduct for discharging a firearm after being linked to a recent shooting incident, DPS said.

In September last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials revealed that more than 54 pounds of cocaine, worth over $730,000, was seized at a port of entry in South Texas. CBP officers seized this large quantity of cocaine at the Falcon Dam port of entry, which was located at the Falcon Dam International Reservoir in Starr County, Texas.

Following the seizure, Roma Port Director Andres Guerra said, "Our frontline officers at the Falcon Dam crossing maintained strict vigilance, applied their training, experience, canines, and technology and the result was a significant seizure of cocaine."

The CBP had revealed that arrests at the Southwest border increased marginally from July to August, but stayed low compared to other times during the Biden administration, as border agents had 58,038 encounters between border crossings in August, up from 56,399 in July.