Morning raid rouses residents (Del Rio News Herald)

Morning raid rouses residents

By Karen Gleason
Del Rio News-Herald

Published March 20, 2008

A morning raid on a county home east of Del Rio shook neighbors from their sleep and prompted at least half a dozen calls to the sheriff’s office, the police department and the newspaper early Wednesday.
One neighbor, who said she was startled awake by “loud bangs, like explosions or gunshots,” told the Del Rio News-Herald Wednesday morning the house that was raided is located in the 100 block of Gregory Drive in an area east of the city known as Val Verde Park Estates.
Val Verde County Sheriff A. D’Wayne Jernigan, contacted by telephone Wednesday morning, said he knew that “a raid of some kind” was going on in the area, but added he did not know what law enforcement agency might be carrying it out or for what purpose.
VVSO Chief Deputy Terry Simons Wednesday afternoon confirmed that the sheriff’s office received a number of 9-1-1 calls about the raid moments after it started about 7 a.m. Wednesday.
The neighbor who called the News-Herald about the raid said the officers raiding the house were supported by a helicopter that circled repeatedly over the neighborhood as well as by an armored vehicle with what appeared to be a battering ram affixed to the front of it.
A call to Nina Pruneda, spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Antonio, said Wednesday that ICE agents only assisted in the operation and suggested a phone call to the Drug Enforcement Administration in Houston.
She also noted that the Texas Department of Public Safety had provided a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in the raid.
A call to the DEA’s media center in Houston had not been returned as of press time Thursday.
The neighbor said she believed at least two persons were taken into custody from the raided home, though the identity of those persons is not yet known.
The Del Rio News-Herald will continue following this story and publish more information about it as it becomes available.