The Federal Bureau of Investigation filed a search warrant on July 14 for the van tied to a deadly ICE shooting in Houston, and said the vehicle may contain evidence of drug offenses. The filing puts a new investigative focus on what was inside the van after the shooting.
That search moved ahead because authorities said they saw white crystal-like substance packaged in small plastic bags from outside the vehicle. An FBI special agent later reported several plastic bags in plain view, including bags in the middle of the dash, between the driver and passenger seat, and on the passenger floorboard. The warrant said the search could turn up evidence of crimes and drug violations.
The timing matters because the van was already central to a fatal shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the warrant adds a drug-evidence line of inquiry to the case. The Department of Homeland Security told the FBI that ICE agents were trying to conduct a traffic stop on the target vehicle, which refused to stop and drove over a median in an attempt to flee.
What happens next is the search itself and whatever investigators pull from it. The warrant also says the officers did not pursue the vehicle under ICE policy, then relocated it to the 6800 block of Canal Street. That account does not sit neatly with video obtained by ABC13, which showed two unmarked vehicles following the van on Wayside at Navigation before it turned onto Canal Street. Whether the white crystal-like substance is confirmed as methamphetamine is still the open question that could shape how far this inquiry goes.
