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DPS director reports continued criminal activity despite lower overall border crossings; highlights drug seizures and stash-house interdictions
Summary
Colonel Martin told the commission that while federal policy changes reduced overall southwest border crossings, criminal smuggling and trafficking persist; he cited substantial drug seizures, stash-house recoveries and ongoing Operation Lone Star interdictions.
Colonel Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the Public Safety Commission on Dec. 1 that although federal changes in early 2024 reduced overall southwest border migration, criminal smuggling and trafficking operations continue and DPS enforcement has produced significant seizures and arrests.
Martin said the southwest border's daily apprehension count has dropped, but Texas still accounts for substantial enforcement activity. "When you look at what DPS does, the numbers really haven't changed much at all," he said, noting a month-to-month arrest average that remains above 1,000 per month for DPS personnel assigned to Operation Lone Star.
The director highlighted multi-year enforcement totals and recent operational figures: 42,000 felony arrests tied to the operation; about 529,000 migrant apprehensions; and large drug seizures described in the briefing, including "588,000,000 lethal doses seized" and 62 tons of methamphetamine removed. He also said DPS had located 585 stash houses and recovered 2,160 migrants from commercial-vehicle interdictions that intensified after a mass-fatality case in San Antonio.
Martin described operational adjustments after federal policy changes in January 2024 and an administrative shift that has reduced mass cross-border flows. He said the Border Patrol's CBP One app also changed migration patterns: between Aug. 26 and Nov. 24 some 133,000 people registered through the app to travel to southern border points of entry and be processed there.
The director asked the commission to consider that lower mass numbers do not equate to lower criminal activity: "The criminal element continues," he said, and cited an 8% increase in arrests during a recent Thanksgiving period tied to groups crossing in the Eagle Pass area. He also reported a 26% increase in drug seizures month-to-month and more than 2,000 interdictions involving migrants hidden in commercial vehicles.
Martin described coordination with federal partners and Mexican authorities, and noted that higher smuggling prices have been reported by Border Patrol and interviewees: "If you were on the low end, it was $5,000, and now they're saying nobody's less than $10,000," he said, adding that migrants using the CBP One appointment process who travel to border towns often have access to money.
Commissioners asked questions and offered praise. A commissioner who said she has worked with animals for 40 years complimented the tracking program that had been presented earlier. The meeting included no formal action on Operation Lone Star; the director provided the update as part of his report and recommended sustained cooperation with federal and state partners.
Martin concluded by noting that regional shifts in where migrants arrive mean Texas now receives a smaller share of total southwest-border entries than in prior years, and that DPS will continue to adapt operationally to evolving migration and smuggling behavior.
No new policy changes or rulemaking were proposed during the director's presentation.
