A Mathis man and his wife were arrested on June 22 when federal, state and Bee County lawmen raided a home where they were in Skidmore.

Sgt. Drew Pilkington, Criminal Intelligence Service investigator for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said the arrests were the result of a raid by a program called Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally (FALCON).

Pilkington said the two people arrested in Skidmore were 30-year-old Roberto Rivas and his 29-year-old wife, Cassandra.

Rivas was wanted by the Mathis Police Department on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and others.

Members of the U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force, Corpus Christi Division joined with Pilkington, DPS Motor Vehicle Theft investigator Lester Keener and local deputies after learning that Rivas could be found in “one of his residences” in Skidmore, Pilkington said.

Officers first contacted Cassandra Rivas but she said her husband was not home. But the team found a trap door in a bedroom closet that led to the crawl space under the house.

“He got out but he didn’t get away,” Pilkington said.

He and Keener went under the house and convinced the suspect to surrender.

“Once he saw the M-4, he cooperated,” Pilkington said.

During a subsequent search officers found some .357-Magnum ammunition.

“He’s a convicted felon and not allowed to have guns or ammunition,” Pilkington said. “That gave us probable cause to search the rest of the house.”

Deputy Capt. Dan Caddell, Lt. Jason Hinds, Sgt. Steve Linam and investigator Steve Martin of the Bee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a thorough search of the house and discovered scales and drug packaging items and $9,999 in cash in the building.

Deputies then arrested Cassandra Rivas and charged her with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Rivas himself was booked at the Bee County Jail on the organized criminal activity charge out of Mathis, along with charges of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a cocaine.

Rivas faces 99 years to life in prison if convicted of the offenses.

Pilkington said Rivas is suspected of being a member of a notorious Texas prison gang.

“The goal of Operation FALCON is simple,” said John F. Clark, director of the U.S. Marshals Service. “Each time we wrap up a FALCON operation in any location, there are less dangerous individuals and fewer threats to the community than before we arrived. That is very gratifying.”

The Marshals Service reports that with the help of state and local law enforcement agencies, 35,190 fugitives have been rounded up this year, clearing 47,418 warrants.

“I continue to be impressed with the remarkable results that can be achieved when all of law enforcement comes together,” Clark said. “What began five years ago as a promising concept has become the most effective fugitive apprehension effort in the long history of the U.S. marshals.”

Pilkington said Caddell obtained a warrant that allowed Bee County to seize the cash found in Rivas’ house.

The money could be seized because it was located by Deputy Jason Alvarez and the county’s drug dog, Amoc.

Pilkington said officers also found three children in the home between the ages of 18 months and nine years. They were turned over to relatives.

The investigator said FALCON team members spent about a day and a half in Bee County and managed to apprehend four fugitives as part of their team effort. He said as many as 75 wanted suspects were booked into the county jail here on warrants just in June.

Pilkington said that Sheriff Carlos Carrizales is able to bring the power of the Marshals Service to Bee County by taking part in the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force.