DPS: MS-13 gang member captured during traffic stop in Pharr

WESLACO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed the arrest of a Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member and deported felon during an Operation Lone Star investigation in Hidalgo County.

Salvador Mata-Hernandez, an MS-13 gang member, was arrested by Texas DPS in Pharr on Oct. 22./Photo courtesy: Texas DPS South Texas Region.

Just after 7 a.m. on Oct. 22, DPS Special Agents with the Criminal Investigations Division, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), identified a possible MS-13 gang member leaving a home in a gray Ford pickup, according to a news release.

A DPS trooper conducted a traffic stop on the truck on Las Milpas Road in Pharr. The driver was identified as Salvador Mata-Hernandez, 41, of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Mata-Hernandez, according to DPS, is a confirmed MS-13 gang member with a criminal history of assault and numerous federal violations for illegal entry dating back to 2000. The most recent was in 2012 by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Mata-Hernandez was turned over to ICE/ERO.