EXCLUSIVE: 5 years in, Operation Lone Star seizes 870 million lethal doses of fentanyl

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Five years into Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star officers have seized a record amount of illicit drugs.

Gov. Greg Abbott first launched OLS on March 4, 2021, in response to an unprecedented number of illegal border crossers and crime within the first year of the Biden administration.

From March 2021 through February 2026, OLS officers have apprehended 538,141 illegal border crossers, The Center Square reported.

They’ve also seized a record volume of illicit drugs, including enough fentanyl to kill nearly one tenth of the world’s population.

Although illegal crossings have dropped by more than 95% under the Trump administration, crime is ongoing and cartel networks are embedded throughout Texas and nationwide. OLS 2.0 is targeting them and criminal actors designated as foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, The Center Square reported.

Roughly 4,200 Venezuelans illegally in the country have been arrested in Texas for a range of crimes. As of Jan. 8, there are 555 Venezuelans with active warrants issued by Texas law enforcement agencies. As of Feb. 27, there are 173 confirmed TdA members in Texas’ gang database, according to OLS data obtained by The Center Square.

TdA’s vast criminal network relies on smuggling and trafficking of illicit drugs and money laundering tied to these operations, authorities have found.

Despite record low illegal border crossings, law enforcement officers at the federal, state and local level are seeing an increase in narcotics coming across the border.

“Whether it’s through the ports of entry or between the ports of entry, we’ve seen large amounts of narcotics especially in commercial vehicles, as well as money and weapons heading south to Mexico,” Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Center Square.

Since March 2021, OLS officers have seized significant volumes of illicit drugs in border communities and statewide. They’ve seized record amounts of marijuana (more than 40,000 pounds at the border/nearly 89,000 pounds statewide); cocaine (nearly 17,000 pounds at the border/25,000 pounds statewide) and heroin (more than 300 pounds at the border/more than 1,000 pounds statewide), according to the data.

OLS officers have also seized a record amount of fentanyl (more than 600 pounds at the border/nearly 4,000 statewide), according to the data.

This translates to OLS officers seizing more than 138 million lethal doses of fentanyl at the border and more than 870 million lethal doses statewide. The statewide seizure total is enough to kill one-tenth of the world population.

OLS officers have also seized a record amount of methamphetamine (nearly 25,000 pounds at the border/nearly 94,000 pounds statewide), according to the data.

They are also continuing to implement targeted traffic enforcement, which authorities have found helps them identify drug smuggling and trafficking and enforce commercial driving safety regulations. Last September, Texas DPS began suspending issuing CDL licenses in several categories and implementing targeted enforcement actions.

In the west Texas region near El Paso, OLS officers have conducted nearly 3,000 vehicle inspections, taking 13% of vehicles out of service.

In OLS areas of interest at the border, since last March, OLS officers have apprehended and referred to Border Patrol 2,212 illegal foreign nationals for illegally operating a commercial motor vehicle or other large vehicles. The vehicles were being driven on public highways and used “to transport passengers or property, including but not limited to a bus, tractor trailer, cargo/horse trailer, box truck, farm vehicle,” according to the data.

Earlier this month, in the small rural town of George West in Live Oak County, an OLS officer pulled over the driver of a semi-truck tractor trailer for a traffic violation and noticed signs of possible criminal activity. An OLS Live Oak Sheriff’s K-9 unit was called and identified 2,000 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the trailer. The driver was headed for Dallas. He was arrested and the drugs, worth roughly $3.4 million, were seized.

“There is a trend that happens under different administrations and policies that cartels are always going to adapt to,” Olivarez said. “Right now, the cartels are adapting to this current administration. We’re not seeing that large volume of people coming across the border, which was the cartels money maker the last four years. Now, they’re more careful. They’re more discreet with who they’re bringing across the border. They’re charging double, triple the amount that they normally would charge somebody to get across the border. Now they’re going back to what they normally would do: smuggling narcotics across the border and of course money and weapons going south.”

The continued need for OLS in the interior of the state is paramount for border security, he and others in law enforcement have told The Center Square.

“Things could change, elections always play a role in border security,” Olivarez said. “Cartels are well aware and pay attention to politics. Elections will always play a role in border security.”