Bags in vehicle of man killed by ICE test negative for drugs, DA says

Drug Test Results Clear Substance Found in Van of Man Killed by ICE

Cybersecarmor.com – Lab analysis has confirmed that the white material discovered inside the vehicle of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo does not contain narcotics, according to Houston prosecutors. This conclusion emerged on July 24, challenging earlier assertions made in an FBI search warrant application that characterized the contents as potentially matching methamphetamine characteristics.

Contradictory Findings Emerge

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office released laboratory findings indicating that the substance within Salgado Araujo’s white Ford van tested negative for any illicit drugs or narcotics. The 52-year-old Mexican father lost his life on the morning of July 7 when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot him during what began as a routine traffic stop.

These results directly contradict the justification presented in FBI Special Agent David McNeilly’s sealed application dated July 14, which sought permission to search the van after McNeilly observed baggies containing a white substance at the scene following the shooting.

Conflicting Accounts of the Incident

Family members and coworkers of Salgado Araujo maintain that he was traveling to his workplace when the fatal encounter occurred. According to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE operations, Salgado Araujo was not the primary target of the operation. However, the agency claimed he attempted to evade capture and utilized his vehicle in an effort to strike an officer.

Men present in the van during the incident have challenged the official narrative, asserting that Salgado Araujo never presented any danger while an ICE officer discharged their weapon inside the vehicle. Notably, the ICE officers involved were not equipped with body cameras at the time of the shooting.

Ruby Powers, attorney representing the family, explained that the white substance was actually salt intended to be combined with water as an electrolyte supplement for outdoor laborers working in Texas’s intense heat conditions.

“This was all used to discredit Lorenzo and the witnesses, unfortunately, or to act as a red herring and a distraction,” Powers told CNN’s Erin Burnett Out Front on July 24. “Ultimately, it’s not a narcotic or controlled substance.”

Legal Proceedings and Public Response

Powers announced that laboratory results would become publicly available on July 27. The Harris County DA’s Office stated via social media that it would refrain from additional commentary regarding the test results while the investigation remains ongoing.

“We have notified Salgado Araujo’s family because we felt they had the right to know,” the DA’s office communicated in a social media post.

An ICE statement issued on July 25 directed inquiries to FBI Houston and the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding the suspected discovery of illicit narcotics in Salgado Araujo’s van. Both agencies declined to provide further comment.

Federal Magistrate Judge Richard Bennett approved the search warrant on July 14, the same day McNeilly submitted his request to access the van. The application, initially designated as sealed, appeared on the federal case docket on July 15.

McNeilly’s application indicated that federal officials were collecting comprehensive information about the incident, including potential reasons for the van’s departure. According to the document, McNeilly reported observing small baggies containing a “white crystal-like substance” positioned on the dashboard center and passenger floorboard. The application noted that the packaging and visual characteristics of the substance aligned with methamphetamine profiles.

“Only the American public can reach that conclusion, based on what we have all been witnessing,” Roman Palomares, LULAC’s national president and board chairman, stated in a formal declaration regarding the investigation’s transparency.

Broader Implications

The League of United Latin American Citizens raised concerns about whether the FBI could conduct a fair and transparent examination of Salgado Araujo’s death.

Lab results were revealed hours following a Congressional Hispanic Caucus hearing held on July 24 in Houston. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, informed legislators that this marked the first instance he had encountered a sealed federal criminal search warrant made accessible to the public before a grand jury received the relevant facts.

Salgado Araujo joined Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero as one of two individuals killed by ICE within a single week during July traffic stops. Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian man, died in a shooting on July 13 in Maine. Following this incident, ICE issued a memorandum on July 14 suspending most immigration-related traffic stops. President Donald Trump reversed this decision through a social media announcement on July 15.

The Harris County DA’s Office confirmed that Salgado Araujo’s family had been informed of the findings, emphasizing their entitlement to this information as the investigation continues.