(The Center Square) – Two men on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s “10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrant List” have been arrested.
The list was launched on June 6 to raise awareness about and help law enforcement find repeat offenders who are in the U.S. illegally and are fugitives wanted for allegedly committing dangerous crimes in Texas. The first two arrests came about from DPS investigations; no tips from the public were received.
Within less than 24 hours of launching the list, DPS officers arrested the No. 3 most wanted on the list, Servando Trejo Duran, Jr., a Mexican national in the country illegally who was convicted of homicide.
The 62-year-old was captured in Baytown, Texas. Working off investigative information, members of the Texas Anti-Gang Center in Houston, including DPS Special Agents and Troopers, located and arrested him. The Baytown Police Department–Special Investigations Division also assisted in the multi-agency fugitive investigation.
Duran was first arrested in 1980 by Baytown Police officers for burglary of a residence and received 10 years’ probation as a penalty. In 1986, he was again arrested, charged, prosecuted and convicted in Harris County of homicide. He subsequently received a life sentence in prison. In 2009, he was released on parole from prison and was later removed from the U.S. and sent back to Mexico.
At some point, he illegally reentered the U.S. at an unknown date, time and location. He has also used multiple aliases. In February 2023, he was arrested again, this time by Deer Park Police officers for tampering with a government record. He then bonded out. In March 2023, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for his arrest for a parole violation on his original offense of murder with a deadly weapon. He was caught one year later after the list was launched.
On June 13, DPS captured the No. 1 most wanted on the list, Victor Hugo Chox Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican national in the U.S. illegally. He was found in Fort Worth by DPS Criminal Investigations Division special agents working off of investigative information.
In April 2016, Chox Gonzalez was convicted in Tarrant County of driving while intoxicated with child under 15 years of age and assault causes bodily injury to a family member. In August 2016, he was removed from the U.S. He then later illegally entered the country again at an unknown date and location. He also used multiple aliases.
In 2021, he was arrested in Tarrant County again for assault and failure to identify/giving false/fictitious information. He then bonded out of jail. Since October 2021, warrants were issued out of Tarrant County for his arrest for failure to identify/give false/fictitious information and fail to identify as a fugitive. In January 2023, the Arlington Police Department issued warrants for his arrest for aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact. He was then arrested 18 months later after the list was launched.
DPS launched the list in cooperation with Texas Crime Stoppers, which is offering cash rewards to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of those on it. Everyone on the list is an Hispanic male in the country illegally.
“Criminals from around the world who enter the United States illegally and commit crimes in Texas are a threat to public safety,” DPS Director Steve McCraw said. “Individuals on Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List are likely to commit other crimes, and DPS is enlisting the public’s help in apprehending these offenders before they commit additional crimes.”
“Texans should not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous,” DPS warns.
To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities by calling Crime Stoppers’ hotline: 1-800-252-TIPS (8477); submit a tip through the DPS website or through the 10 Most Wanted Facebook tip page. All tips are anonymous regardless of how they are submitted.
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the three remaining in the top five on the list: Luis Perez Mendoza, Francisco Alexis Ventura, and Omar David Zavala.
An award of up to $3,000 is being offered for information leading to five on the list: Alexander Berrios Ulloa, Salvador Cortez Vasquez, Jorge Dionicio Hernandez, Oscar Oswaldo Madrid Cartagena, and Gilberto Castro Zubiate.
The list includes a mugshot of each man and their description, including their date of birth height and weight. It also includes the last known addresses for each man: Conroe, Irving, Spring, Austin, Cleveland, Houston, Marshall and El Paso, respectively.
They are all wanted for violent crimes and considered to be armed and dangerous.
