Warrant in Houston ICE Shooting Shows FBI Found Suspected Drugs

An FBI agent at the scene of a fatal shooting by an ICE officer in Houston observed tied plastic baggies containing substances resembling illegal drugs. The agent determined that laboratory testing would be required to confirm the substances and that a warrant was necessary. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE officer during a traffic stop last week.

ICE officers had been searching for undocumented migrants in another vehicle resembling Salgado Araujo’s van when they initiated the stop, according to federal authorities. ICE stated that Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle, refused multiple verbal commands, and attempted to run over an officer before being shot.

No video of the shooting has surfaced and none of the ICE officers were wearing body cameras.

Men riding in the van with Salgado Araujo and his brother Victor told attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra they did not attempt to ram officers or put them in danger. A federal search warrant was originally filed under seal by the Department of Justice. The warrant was unsealed and made public the day after it was filed.

CNN reported that the unsealed warrant indicated the FBI suspected Salgado Araujo was transporting methamphetamine. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the warrant, why it was unsealed, or whether it was unsealed at the request of federal prosecutors.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CNN he does not believe the substances found by the FBI were drugs.

Teare stated on CNN’s Erin Burnett show on Friday that he does not believe the FBI fully processed the van for evidence, including vehicle computer data and exterior DNA swabs. “All they were looking for were baggies that were in open sight, and the only thing that I can think they did it for was to smear a good man’s name,” he said.