The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reported Thursday that law enforcement captured 27 Most Wanted fugitives in 2019.
That number includes 14 convicted sex offenders and ten fugitives affiliated with gangs, including the Texas Mexican Mafia, MS-13, Bloods, Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, Texas Syndicate, Crips, Texas Chicano Brotherhood, Gangster Disciples and the Aryan Circle.
The 27 fugitives made Texas’ most wanted list over parole violations, failure to register as a sex offender, assault with a deadly weapon, child pornography, trafficking of a child, attempted capital murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and other offenses.
Most of those captured were found within Texas itself, but 10 were located outside Texas and extradited, including one fugitive in Mexico and one in Puerto Rico.
Texas DPS said it paid $40,500 in reward money for anonymous tips that resulted in arrests. Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of the Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives or sex offenders.
Anonymous tips can be submitted through the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), through the DPS website, or via Facebook.
“The public plays a key role in making the Texas 10 Most Wanted program successful, because their tips are often critical to locating these criminals and removing them from our streets,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “The department is also thankful to our law enforcement partners at the local, state and federal level who provide essential support in our efforts to capture these ruthless fugitives and sexual predators, which bolsters the safety of communities across Texas.”
For more information on the captured fugitives visit the DPS website.
