Local DA disputes FBI claim of drugs in van of Houston ICE shooting

Skip to content

A local district attorney in Texas is disputing an FBI assessment that 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s vehicle contained drugs before he was fatally shot by a federal officer in Houston last week.

“Based on the information we have regarding who Mr. Salgado was, and just eyeballing the evidence as it was collected yesterday, we don’t believe that they are drugs,” Sean Teare (D), the district attorney of Harris County, Texas, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Thursday during an appearance on “News Central.”

The FBI filed a warrant application saying it had cause to believe there were illegal drugs in the van Salgado Araujo was driving. The document cites probable cause for “distribution, manufacturing, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and simple possession of a controlled substance,” CNN reported Wednesday.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo as he was heading to work. While ICE accused the Mexican national of trying to weaponize his car against its officers, other men in the van disputed that characterization, saying officers in unmarked vehicles trailed them before surrounding them on the driver and passenger sides.

Salgado Araujo lived in the Houston area for 35 years and was close to obtaining legal status, according to his family. His relatives have also said he did not have a criminal record.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said last week that acting ICE Director David Venturella informed her that Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the agency’s enforcement operation.

Teare said Thursday it is his “understanding” the FBI will test the substances found in the van “either today or in the next few days.” The district attorney added that the bureau should share the results of those tests “immediately” with the public.

Even if the substances are drugs, however, he explained the results will not matter in his office’s probe of whether the ICE officer was justified in shooting the 52-year-old.

“It has no bearing on why Mr. Salgado and the other three individuals were targeted. It has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the use [of force against] Salgado was justified,” he told Bolduan. “This is a red herring that really has no bearing on a death investigation.”

Tags

CNN

DHS

drug search

FBI

Houston

Houston ICE shooting

Kate Bolduan

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

Sean Teare

Sylvia Garcia

Texas

Trump administration

Trump immigration agenda

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.