Texas authorities have increased the reward to $4,000 for information leading to the arrest of Ismael Arias, 52, a Cuban national and convicted child sex offender who has evaded capture since April 2025.
The Texas Department of Public Safety named Arias its Featured Fugitive for November, highlighting the urgency of locating him due to his violent criminal history spanning two decades.
Arias failed to comply with sex offender registration requirements in Harris County, prompting his addition to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrant list. His criminal record began in 2005 with arrests in Florida for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, and criminal mischief.
In 2006, authorities arrested him twice in Texas border counties. Hudspeth County charged him with aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping, while Culberson County filed sexual assault and kidnapping charges.
A Hudspeth County court ultimately convicted Arias of indecency with a child by contact involving a 13-year-old girl. He served time in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison before his July 2013 parole release, completing his sentence in July 2015.
The fugitive stands 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs approximately 225 pounds, and has tattoos on both upper arms. Law enforcement agencies across Texas remain on alert for any sightings.
Texas Crime Stoppers, funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, offers the enhanced reward only for tips received during November. The agency emphasizes that all tips remain anonymous, with tipsters receiving reference numbers instead of providing names.
This year alone, authorities have arrested 60 Texas 10 Most Wanted individuals, including 24 sex offenders and 13 criminal illegal immigrants. The program has paid $41,000 in rewards to citizens whose tips led to captures.
Anyone with information can call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submit a tip online at dps.texas.gov, or use the Texas 10 Most Wanted Facebook page.