Federal authorities reported finding three bags of a substance believed to be methamphetamine inside the van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Houston last week. An FBI search warrant indicated that investigators discovered bags containing a "white crystal-like substance" consistent with methamphetamine in Araujo's vehicle.
ICE officers were conducting an immigration enforcement operation when they attempted to stop a vehicle with four occupants, including one they believed was their target. Araujo allegedly refused to stop and drove over a median in an attempt to flee. The officers did not pursue the vehicle but later located it in a different area.
According to the warrant, Araujo then rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle and did not comply with verbal commands, leading to an officer firing their weapon in self-defense. ICE stated that Araujo was in the United States illegally. The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed that none of the vehicle's occupants were the intended target of the operation. The three passengers reported they were on their way to work at a construction site when the shooting occurred.
Araujo's death was followed by another ICE-involved shooting in Biddeford, Maine, where an officer fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 25-year-old from Colombia. ICE stated that Guerrero had attempted to flee, prompting the officer to fire in fear for public safety. In response to the shootings, ICE paused the agency's use of traffic stops. President Donald Trump indicated that he would support reversing this suspension, criticizing the current administration's border policies.