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Three unauthorized migrants from El Salvador, who were reportedly attempting to exploit teenage girls via a dating app, ended up captured in a sting operation in Texas, as reported by authorities.
Officers from the Houston Police Department posed as underage girls on the dating app Jaumo and apprehended three adult men. These men are currently being detained on immigration holds at the Harris County Jail, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials stated earlier this week, according to Fox 26.
Abner Ruiz, 37; Erick Menjivar, 30; and Carlos Gomez, 33, were taken into custody in separate events over the past 10 days. Each faces charges of online solicitation of a minor, as reported by the station, referring to court documents.
Two of the sickos believed they were meeting a 14-year-old girl while the third attempted to meet up with a 16-year-old, according to those records.
Cops said the ongoing sting did not specifically target illegal immigrants.
Gomez first entered the country illegally on Oct. 19, 2012, and was removed to El Salvador in 2020, ICE told Fox 26.
He returned to the US illegally at an unknown time and remained undetected until he was busted in HPD’s covert operation on July 17.
He fled in his vehicle after realizing the supposed teenager he was meeting was a cop â running stop signs, crashing into a gate and injuring a pedestrian in his failed dash for freedom, the report stated.
Gomez, the father of a child under 18, also faces charges of failure to stop and render aid.
He was convicted of violently assaulting a family member in 2015, per Fox 26.
Immigration officials do not know when Martinez Ruiz crossed into the US illegally, so the sting operation on July 17 was his first run-in with law enforcement, Fox 26 reported, citing ICE.
Menjivar entered the US illegally near San Ysidro, Calif., on July 25, 2018, and was arrested that same day by immigration officials who released him into the country three days later.
He had his immigration case dismissed in 2024 after the federal government exercised prosecutorial discretion, according to ICE.
He was nabbed on July 18, officials said.
Jaumo bills itself as âthe first community-based dating appâ and allows users to match with people in their area, according to its website.
Children under the age of 18 are not permitted on the platform.
Unlike more popular dating apps, users can message each other without previously matching, according to Fox 29.
