Criminal Illegal Immigrant on Most Wanted List Arrested

HOUSTON, TX – The Texas Department of Public Safety has captured another fugitive from Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List in Houston – just days after he was added to the list. 

A Crime Stoppers reward will not be paid for this arrest.

Jose Miguel Zelaya-Ponce, 20, a criminal illegal immigrant from Honduras, had been wanted out of Harris County since July 2024 for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14. He was taken into custody on Friday, Aug. 23 by Special Agents from DPS’ Criminal Investigations Division (CID) assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Center in Houston, along with Texas Rangers and Texas Highway Patrol (THP) Troopers. Zelaya-Ponce’s arrest was a result of investigative efforts and a series of leads by Special Agents and Texas Rangers assigned to his case.

In April 2021, Zelaya-Ponce was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and charged with alien removal. He was subsequently given an order of recognizance and released. In June 2024, Zelaya-Ponce was issued a final order of removal. 

For more information, view Zelaya-Ponce’s captured bulletin here.

Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants. So far in 2024, DPS and other agencies have arrested 31 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 11 sex offenders, 10 gang members and 4 criminal illegal immigrants.

To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:

• Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
• Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about then clicking on the link under their picture.
• Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).

All tips are anonymous—regardless of how they are submitted—and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.

DPS Special Agents work with local and federal law enforcement agencies to apprehend all of the criminal illegal immigrant fugitives that have been identified and to select the fugitives that appear on the Texas 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List. You can find the current lists—with photos—on the DPS website.

Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.