Southwest
Texas gang members sentenced for human smuggling after high-speed border chases
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Two South Texas gang members have been sentenced for human smuggling, following a series of high-speed chases at the border that involved one of the gang members crashing his car into the Rio Grande and swimming to Mexico to escape.
A Monday statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the two human smugglers, Juan Miguel Regalado, 28, and Samuel Grajeda Jr., 21, are members of “Puro Tango Blast,” a local Texas gang.
The two were sentenced on May 15 after being convicted of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants, following an investigation by ICE, U.S. Border Patrol Laredo Sector and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
U.S. District Judge John Kazen imposed a 66-month sentence for Regalado, while Grajeda previously received a 30-month imprisonment as well as a consecutive six months for violating the terms of his supervised release for a previous alien transporting conviction. Both must also serve three years of supervised release.
Both men admitted to involvement in the human smuggling conspiracy.
PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTOR LETS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TEEN OFF EASY AFTER 90-MPH CRASH THAT KILLED 24-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
Two South Texas gang members have been sentenced for smuggling, following a series of high-speed chases at the border that involved one of the gang members crashing his car into the Rio Grande and swimming to Mexico to escape.
According to the ICE statement, the investigation began April 20, 2024, when a group of suspected illegal aliens entered a green Tahoe in a sector of the border just north of Laredo, Texas.
The statement said that Regalado was driving and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase, during which “multiple individuals jumped out of the vehicle.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
Driving up to 100 miles per hour, Regalado crashed the Tahoe into the Rio Grande and then proceeded to escape by swimming across the river to Mexico.
Authorities continued to monitor the area over the next several months. In November 2024, another group of illegal aliens entered a white Ford Taurus parked in the area. Authorities followed the vehicle until another vehicle, a black Mercedes, cut them off. ICE said that the two vehicles were driven by Grajeda and Regalado.
DEM’S IMMIGRATION REFORM PLAN ADDS BORDER PATROL AGENTS, OFFERS SELECT MIGRANTS PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP
The Rio Grande is seen from Laredo, Texas, U.S., September 19, 2020. Picture taken September 19, 2020. (REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas)
A traffic stop of the Ford Taurus led to another vehicle pursuit in which Grajeda crashed into a bystander’s vehicle. Law enforcement eventually discovered the Ford Taurus abandoned in a north Laredo neighborhood. Authorities then found four illegal aliens and Grajeda and Regalado within the vicinity of the abandoned vehicle.
Both gang members are currently in custody.
Craig Larrabee, ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Special Agent in Charge, said that “these sentences reflect the serious consequences awaiting those who engage in human smuggling and endanger public safety.”
Larrabee said that “Tango Blast gang members put countless lives at risk during these reckless pursuits” and that “through strong collaboration with our federal and state law enforcement partners, we remain committed to dismantling violent criminal organizations and protecting our communities.”
Read the full article from Here
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
-
A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
-
Minneapolis, MN4 minutes agoMinnesota’s Unsung State Park Unit Is An Idyllic Minneapolis Day Trip To Boat, Fish, And Hike – Islands
-
Indianapolis, IN10 minutes agoNew dining and retail options coming to Indianapolis’s Bottleworks District
-
Pittsburg, PA17 minutes agoCity of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy break ground on McKinley Park Community Grove
-
Augusta, GA23 minutes agoVA of Augusta holds hiring fair for health care positions
-
Washington, D.C28 minutes agoNational Moral Monday: Prophetic Witness Outside the White House | Repairers of the Breach
-
Cleveland, OH34 minutes agoPlan ahead: Road closures and where to watch the Cleveland Marathon
-
Austin, TX40 minutes agoTexas Softball Keeps Cruising in Austin Regional, Shuts Out Wisconsin
-
Alabama47 minutes ago‘They may draw racist maps, but we are the south’: thousands rally in Alabama for Black voting rights