Border patrol agents seized guns, ammunition and $100,000 in cash, along with nabbing 48 illegal aliens traveling on the Interstate 10 corridor in Mississippi.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the sting, called “Operation Magnolia,” was a multi-agency effort focused on targeted highway enforcement along I-10 during the last week of April.
.@USBPChiefNLL alongside federal and local law enforcement participated in Operation Magnolia to identify illegal aliens traveling across I-10 in MS. As a result, 48 aliens and 3 U.S. citizens were apprehended, and $104K and weapons were seized.
➡️️ https://t.co/mshOWYD3gE pic.twitter.com/92lPulb8us
— CBP (@CBP) May 7, 2025
Border Patrol’s New Orleans, along with Homeland Security Investigations and local law enforcement partners, arrested 48 illegal aliens from Mexico, Nicaragua, Kazakhstan, Honduras, Colombia, and Guatemala, and three U.S. citizens charged with various federal charges, according to a news release.
“If you attempt to smuggle narcotics, contraband, or illegal aliens through Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana, you will be caught, prosecuted, and put in jail,” said Adam Calderon, New Orleans Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent. “The U.S. Border Patrol is committed to enforcing our nation’s laws.”
The 48 illegal aliens were processed for removal from the U.S. In addition, eight suspects will be prosecuted for re-entry after deportation, and one illegal alien was charged with attempting to use false documents 18 USC 1546(a).
Operation Magnolia resulted in seizing $104,000 in U.S. currency, multiple firearms and magazines, and other illegal contraband, according to the CBP.
Border Patrol did not release the identities of those detained in the highway operation or provide additional details on the arrests.
Interstate 10 (I-10) is a major east–west highway in the southern areas of the United States. It has a section of about 77 miles in Mississippi, traversing the three southernmost counties: Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson. It also passes through sections of Gulfport, Mississippi’s second-largest city, and primarily serves the Gulf Coast region.
The ongoing initiative dubbed Operation Magnolia aims to identify, apprehend, and prosecute undocumented immigrants in Mississippi and surrounding states. The coordinated highway operation in New Orleans and across the Gulf South indicates its part of the Trump administration’s expanded immigration crackdown.
In March, a similar sting led to the arrest of 25 undocumented immigrants in Pearl, SuperTalk Mississippi Media reported. That operation occurred between March 17 and March 21 along the Interstate 20 corridor, according to the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department.
The operation’s goal was “to disrupt both drug and human trafficking in the area of operations which can be present with illegal aliens being transported from one area to another for the purpose of either sex or labor trafficking,” according to a press release from RCSD.
The illegal immigrants taken into custody during that sting hailed from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The sheriff’s department said that 22 of the 25 were processed for removal from the U.S., while three will be prosecuted under the re-entry after deportation federal statute.
Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector has jurisdiction over a seven-state area, encompassing 592 counties and parishes and approximately 362,310 square miles, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and a portion of the Florida panhandle.
Nola.com reports that in New Orleans agents are using traffic stops to detain people accused of illegally reentering the country, federal court records show. In several cases, they have done so after monitoring homes and vehicles of people suspected of being in the country illegally.
