DPS: 2 illegally present child sex offenders arrested

WESLACO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested two fugitives who were in the U.S. illegally.

Armando Alonso-Cortez, 40, and Carlos Daniel Espinoza-Arguello, 26, were arrested as part of Operation Lone Star, a mission led by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department along the United States–Mexico border in southern Texas to minimize the amount of illegal crossings.

On Feb. 6, Alonso-Cortez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was stopped in a 1999 Dodge pickup truck for making a traffic violation on IH-2 in Sullivan City.

A DPS Trooper found a warrant for Alonso-Cortez, who was the passenger in the vehicle. He was wanted by the Alton Police Department for sexual assault of a child and was considered a flight risk.

Troopers arrested him and transferred him over to the Alton Police Department.

On Feb. 11, troopers stopped Espinoza-Arguello, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, after he was stopped for being suspected of human smuggling.

Espinoza-Arguello was wanted by DPS for sexual assault of a child.

When authorities discovered this he was arrested and booked into the El Paso County Jail.

Additionally, Espinoza-Arguello's arrest led agents to a stash house in the area where two other illegal Venezuelan immigrants were arrested.