AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Department of Public Safety special agents assigned to the Austin Violent Crimes Task Force seized more than 507,000 lethal doses of fentanyl along with other narcotics, guns, ammunition and several stolen vehicles Thursday morning, according to Gov. Greg Abbott.
"Today marks one month since I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide assistance to the Austin Police Department to help reduce crime and improve safety in the city, and I am proud to see the hard work of these brave men and women saving innocent lives from being taken due to President Biden's border crisis," Abbott said in a release.
"The Biden Administration's reckless open border policies pose an imminent danger to communities across Texas and the nation, allowing record levels of deadly drugs and dangerous weapons to pour across our southern border. I commend the Texas Department of Public Safety's world-class Special Agents who investigated a drug deal that lead to over half a million lethal doses of fentanyl being seized—enough to kill over half of all Texans living in Austin—and other dangerous drugs, weapons, and equipment."
Early Thursday morning, DPS special agents saw a drug deal and made a felony arrest. Using a number of investigative tools and tactics to further the investigation, the agency's SWAT executed a search warrant and was able to seize 507,000 lethal doses of fentanyl. That amount is enough to kill more than half of Austin’s current population, the release said.
Methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, six handguns, 10 rifles, two shotguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, thermal infrared binoculars, three ballistic vests and one suppressor were also seized.
Some of the weapons were identified as stolen. Additionally, DPS special agents found two stolen motorcycles and three stolen box trailers.
Two people were arrested and will face federal charges. The defendants said the drugs came from Mexico and the weapons were heading to Mexico later this week.
The investigation remains ongoing at this time.
In March, Abbott directed DPS to provide assistance to the City of Austin Police Department to help reduce crime and improve safety in the state's capital through AVCTF, a data-driven violent crime suppression task force composed of troopers, special agents and intelligence-level policing.