A summer-long law enforcement operation at Lake Lewisville has ended with 121 arrests, including two men authorities say admitted to being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The operation ran from June 27 through Labor Day weekend. The initiative sought to identify foreign nationals and assist with lake-related investigations, while giving local law enforcement room to enforce boating safety laws.
According to CBS Texas, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Dallas Field Office said the initiative focused on identifying foreign nationals, assisting with lake-related investigations, and giving local law enforcement room to enforce boating safety laws. ICE Dallas said every person taken into custody during the operation had a criminal record, with charges ranging from assault, burglary and driving while intoxicated to evading arrest, family violence, and sexual assault of a child.
Two Men Admit Gang Ties During Livery Investigation
One case connected to the broader operation involved an alleged unlicensed commercial boat rental business, known as a livery, on the lake. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department investigated 22-year-old Honduran national Edwin Josue Cabrera-Zelaya and 24-year-old Venezuelan national William Josue Ordonez Vasquez for allegedly running the operation, per the station's report. Both men admitted to being members of Tren de Aragua, CBS Texas reported.
The investigation into the alleged unlicensed livery was one part of a broader summer water-safety initiative at Lake Lewisville.
Four additional people were arrested in connection with the illegal Lake Lewisville operation, the same account notes. Among them was 30-year-old Honduran national Jose Almendares Suazo, who had been previously removed from the United States and had prior convictions for assault causing bodily injury and assault involving family violence.
A Child Found in a Vehicle, Prior Arrests for Sexual Assault
Two other cases tied to the operation involved disturbing details. A 13-year-old girl was found in the vehicle of 22-year-old Mexican national Diego Gomez Hernandez, according to the report. Separately, 23-year-old Guatemalan national Luis Alfrando Digueros Quintanilla, who had previously been removed from the country, had a prior arrest for felony sexual assault of a child in Dallas County, while 35-year-old Mexican national Axon Solomon Mejia Ortega had a prior arrest for felony indecency with a child by sexual contact, also in Dallas County.
Federal Officials Tout Interagency Coordination
ICE Dallas Field Office Director Miguel Vergara said the agency is committed to upholding the law, enforcing immigration statutes, and removing individuals who pose a threat to communities. Vergara said the results of the summer initiative included 121 arrests, public safety threats taken off the streets, and stronger coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, per the CBS Texas report.
Lake Lewisville itself is a 29,592-acre reservoir in Denton County formed by damming the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and stretching more than 200 miles of shoreline, according to the Texas Water Development Board. Its scale as a regional recreational boating hub made it a natural target for the kind of high-traffic summer enforcement the ICE Dallas office described. The agency's summer water safety initiative highlighted the value of interagency cooperation during those high-traffic recreational periods, which required balancing public safety demands on the water with criminal and immigration enforcement priorities on land.
Part of a Broader State Crackdown
The Lake Lewisville arrests fit into a wider state campaign against Tren de Aragua, which the Office of the Governor Greg Abbott designated a foreign terrorist organization and Tier 1 gang under Texas law in September 2024, directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to form specialized strike teams.
A two-day Dallas sweep on March 18–19 resulted in the arrests of a Tren de Aragua member and an admitted MS-13 member, according to the report.
