Texas Border Business
AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces the capture of Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Justin Statum, a documented gang member from Houston and convicted child sex trafficker who was arrested in Harris Co. last week. A Texas Crime Stoppers reward will be paid for his arrest.
Justin Ramon Statum, 27, a documented Bloods gang member, was taken into custody at a motel on the north side of Houston on Thursday, March 26. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Criminal Investigations Division (CID) Special Agents assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Center’s Violent Crimes Unit in Houston, along with Texas Highway Patrol (THP) Troopers and members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force, located and arrested him using information from the tip.
In September 2021, Statum was convicted of compelling prostitution of a person under 18 and trafficking a child to engage in sexual conduct following incidents with a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl. He was subsequently sentenced to six years of confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison. Statum was discharged from TDCJ in January 2025 and is now required to register as a sex offender on an annual basis for life. Statum had been wanted since October 2025, after a warrant was issued for his arrest out of Harris Co. for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon (handgun). More information on Statum’s capture can be found here.
Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. So far in 2026, DPS and other agencies arrested 17 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 12 sex offenders and 3 gang members – with $34,500 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests.
To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about then clicking on the link under their picture.
- Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).
All tips are anonymous — regardless of how they are submitted — and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants Lists. You can find the current lists — with photos — on the DPS website.
Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.
(HQ 2026-029) Texas DPS
