DPS Arrests Human Smuggler, Captures Convicted Child Sex Offender in South Texas

DEL RIO, TX – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested a human smuggler and captured a criminal illegal immigrant and convicted child sex offender during an Operation Lone Star traffic stop in Maverick County.

On October 15, 2025, just after 7:30 a.m., a DPS trooper stopped a gray Dodge Challenger on US 277 in Eagle Pass. The driver, 27-year-old Joshua Sanders of Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested for smuggling after three illegal immigrants were found in his vehicle.

During the investigation, authorities identified one of the passengers as 49-year-old Jose Aleman Arroyo of Mexico, an aggravated deported felon who had reentered the U.S. after a conviction for indecency with a child and assault. Arroyo was previously arrested in North Carolina in 2021 for indecent liberties with a child, assault causing serious bodily injury, and assault by pointing a gun. He was convicted in August 2025 and subsequently removed from the U.S. by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sanders was booked into the Maverick County Jail. Arroyo and the other two illegal immigrants, from Mexico and Honduras, were referred to Border Patrol.