121 arrested in ICE operation in Texas lake community, bookstore trafficking ring

Conducted from June 27 through Labor Day weekend, the operation involved multiple law enforcement agencies with a goal of identifying illegal foreign nationals and assisting with lake-related investigations.

Those arrested had criminal histories of assault, family violence, assault causing bodily injury, theft, burglary, sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by sexual contact, evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, driving while intoxicated, boating while intoxicated, criminal mischief, criminal negligence, and multiple and varied traffic-related offenses, ICE said.

Two men who were arrested, citizens of Venezuelan and Honduras, were confirmed TdA members already under investigation by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, authorities said. They were allegedly operating an illegal livery (taxi) operation on Lake Lewisville. 

“Illegal livery operations can create significant public safety risks because they may bypass safety, inspection, and insurance and operator requirements,” ICE said. “A similar illegal livery operation was connected to the death of an Air Force cadet over the 2025 Memorial Day weekend on Grapevine Lake.” 

In that case, a Venezuelan national in the country illegally fled the scene after striking an 18-year-old cadet kayaker with a jet ski, The Center Square reported. The Venezuelan was apprehended and charged and prosecuted for felony manslaughter. It was later learned that the Venezuelan illegally entered the country in 2023 as a gotaway, authorities said and The Center Square reported. Gotaways is the official federal term for foreign nationals who purposefully illegally enter between ports of entry to evade capture. More than two million gotaways were reported during the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported. 

Among them have been thousands of TdA members. TdA, which means, “Train from Aragua,” referring to the Venezuelan state of Aragua, initially operated out of Tocorón Prison in Aragua. The Trump administration designated TdA as a FTO after more than one million Venezuelans illegally entered the country and TdA crime expanded in at least 22 states under the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported. Last year alone, hundreds of TdA members were indicted on terrorism charges in 10 months, The Center Square reported.

In the ICE HSI-Dallas north Texas sex trafficking investigation, a multi-year and multi-agency investigation led to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas securing indictments against multiple defendants on sex trafficking charges. Some faced additional charges of sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion; sex trafficking of a minor; money laundering and weapons charges. If convicted, several face up to life in prison. 

HSI Dallas Assistant Special Agent in Charge Judy Pardo said that HSI and the North Texas Trafficking Task Force were “focused on identifying traffickers, disrupting the businesses and financial systems that enable them, and ensuring victims are connected with critical support services. This case sends a clear message: Those who profit from exploitation will be investigated, arrested and brought before the courts.”

The yearslong sex trafficking and money laundering conspiracy at the bookstore involved two sex trafficker “pimps” forcing women and minors to engage in commercial sex in the store’s arcade rooms, authorities allege. Adults and minors were asex trafficked there and bookstore employees and associates profited from charging cash fees for access to the arcade rooms for commercial sex, ICE said. “Employees were allegedly permitted to keep leftover cash paid by commercial sex workers as ‘tips,’” ICE HSI-Dallas said.

Some victims “displayed visible injuries, including bruising, black eyes, road rash, stab wounds;” some said they were assaulted, ICE HSI-Dallas said.

“Security” bookstore staff were paid with illicit proceeds in exchange for “controlling customers and commercial sex workers; ensuring solicitation occurred only in certain areas of the property; preventing traffickers from lingering in the parking lot; escorting customers and commercial sex workers to arcade rooms; and reporting disturbances involving law enforcement or altercations,” according to the indictment.

HSI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard said the investigation “reflects the core mission of HSI identifying criminal networks, following the money, rescuing victims and working with prosecutors to hold offenders accountable.”