Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and tracking K‑9 teams kicked off the new year by locating and detaining people who had crossed into Maverick County in what officials and local outlets described as the first border apprehension of 2026. Mounted troopers and K‑9 handlers followed fresh tracks across private ranchland and pushed into thick brush to find people hiding, an early glimpse of how the state plans to keep leaning on Operation Lone Star along isolated stretches of the Rio Grande.
Local reports: seven people tracked down
Local coverage says a joint response on rural property in Maverick County ended with several people in custody. As reported by MyTexasDaily, seven individuals from Mexico were detained after trying to slip past law enforcement. The outlet quoted the STX Safety & Education Team as saying that “strong state and federal teamwork continues to strengthen border security” and placed the incident in Maverick County in the first days of January 2026.
State account: K‑9 and mounted patrol detail
The Texas Department of Public Safety says its newly launched Border Mounted Patrol Unit teamed up with a DPS tracking K‑9 to follow footprints across multiple ranches and ultimately apprehend the subjects after what the department described as an almost 11‑mile track, according to the agency’s Operation Lone Star page. Texas Department of Public Safety also posted video and regional updates that show mounted troopers and K‑9 units working alongside U.S. Border Patrol in the field. DPS characterized the incident as the mounted unit’s first apprehension in Maverick County and an early showcase of how far the unit can operate in remote terrain.
Processing and legal context
People stopped by state troopers are routinely turned over to U.S. Border Patrol for immigration processing, and authorities described the Maverick County case as one of many joint efforts under Operation Lone Star. The Office of the Texas Governor has promoted similar field operations as part of a broader border security blueprint, while federal prosecutors in the region reported a steady stream of border related filings in the final weeks of 2025, highlighting how these encounters can move from pastureland to courtroom. Depending on circumstances, for example suspected human smuggling or outstanding warrants, individuals may be processed solely for immigration violations or face added state or federal counts, as recent filings in the Southern District indicate.
Officials have not released full identifying details about those detained beyond the initial summaries, and public information has so far come through operation briefings and local news reports. For now, DPS and its partners say that K‑9 tracking teams and mounted patrols will remain core tools in remote South Texas counties as 2026 gets rolling, a clear signal that long tracks across ranchland will continue to be part of the enforcement playbook.
