Texas officials on Friday said that testing confirmed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not carrying drugs in his vehicle, striking down the FBI’s initial assessment that there could have been drugs in the construction laborer’s work van when he was killed by immigration agents.
Araujo was shot dead in Houston earlier this month after being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At the time, the Trump administration raised concerns that Araujo had meth in the vehicle. His family and authorities in the area pushed back, saying the substance in white bags was a homemade electrolyte mix his wife prepared for the work crew every day.
The office of Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said this week that testing confirmed the substance “tested negative for narcotics / illicit drugs,” and said it had notified Salgado Araujo’s family “because we felt they had the right to know.”
Araujo was fatally shot by ICE on July 7. The Mexican citizen was not a legal resident at the time of his death, according to the government. He lived in the Houston area for roughly three decades, with a family and home-building business established in the city. Araujo submitted an application for a work permit and was “close to obtaining his legal status” when he died, according to his son. He was shot while heading to a jobsite with his crew.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has said Araujo was not the target of their initial deportation operation in the Houston area. They targeted him because he was driving a white cargo van similar to a vehicle description they had tagged for the site agents were heading to, according to officials.
DHS said Araujo failed to obey ICE’s commands to stop his vehicle, instead putting it in reverse and attempting to drive away, leading to the deadly shooting. His family believes he was likely scared and not aware they were government officers, as they were not wearing clearly marked clothing identifying themselves.
After Araujo was shot, the FBI said they believed there were drugs in his work van, citing what they could see in the van from looking in from the outside. The DHS has not indicated that the ICE agents who stopped Araujo had any knowledge of drugs possibly being inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
FBI Special Agent David McNiell filed a warrant affidavit application on July 14 that cited probable cause for “distribution, manufacturing, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and simple possession of a controlled substance.” He said he arrived on scene after the shooting and saw small plastic bags “with a white crystal-like substance” in “plain view” in the white cargo van.
The lawyer for the family, attorney Ruby Powers, said that the substance was a simple drink mixture.
“Our understanding is that this was granulated salt, which is paired with lemon and water as a homemade electrolyte mix used by outdoor workers in extreme Texas heat,” Powers said.
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Teare, the Harris County DA, backed up the family, saying that “based on what we’ve learned about the passengers, it’s inconsistent that drugs were in the van.” Araujo’s wife prepared the homemade electrolyte mixes for his work crew every morning, Teare told CNN.
“This is something they’ve been doing for years, which is consistent with where the baggies were found,” he said.