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TABC-led raid in Houston rescues 25 trafficking victims, agency says
Summary
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said its agents, working with federal and local partners, executed a Houston raid that led to the rescue of 25 young women and multiple arrests in an operation the agency tied to narcotics and cartel activity.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said TABC agents led a Thursday night raid at a Houston sports bar that resulted in the rescue of 25 young women and multiple arrests.
Executive Director Graham told commissioners the TABC Trace team first identified the establishment after following leads from a vehicular manslaughter investigation. “We determined not only that, was that it was a den of human trafficking and narcotics as well as cartel activity,” he said.
The agency said the operation involved TABC agents working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Harris County police, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI. Graham said agents found narcotics and evidence of human trafficking at the site and took multiple suspects into custody.
“The results were 25, young women who were being trafficked that were rescued. Multiple arrests,” Graham said. He added that when suspects were not lawfully present in the U.S., immigration-related removals were pursued: “in the case if they were criminals that were here illegally, sending them back to where they came from immediately.”
Graham framed the operation as part of an ongoing enforcement priority dating to the agency’s origins: “Since 1935, this agency has been tasked with the responsibility to keep organized crime out of the liquor industry,” he said, describing the agency’s charter responsibility to guard licensed establishments against criminal infiltration. He also stressed the tactics used in the raid, saying the operation employed surveillance and undercover work that avoided firearm use and physical violence: “the most successful police operation is one in which a firearm is never removed from a holster.”
Commissioners and staff said the Houston operation is one of several recent enforcement actions; Graham noted a separate October operation and an action against an unlicensed Houston establishment two weeks earlier. He told the commission that federal partners have sought to work with TABC because of the agency’s licensing expertise and statutory tools for investigating licensed premises.
The commission discussion included praise for the agency’s victim services staff who participate in on-site rescue and aftercare work. The agency did not provide, during the meeting, further operational details such as the number of arrests, identities of suspects, precise location of the venue beyond “a sports bar in Houston,” or criminal charges filed. Graham said follow-up enforcement updates could be added to a future agenda.
Questions from commissioners at the meeting raised whether TABC should provide more public information about similar operations in other parts of the state; Graham said how much detail can be shared publicly should be coordinated with law enforcement partners and the chief overseeing such operations.
The commission did not announce any formal rulemaking or new statutory requests tied to the operation during the meeting. The agency said victim services and enforcement units will continue the investigations and partner-level coordination required for prosecutions and victim care.
