More than 16,000 illegal immigrants have been referred to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 598 criminals have been arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers as part of “Operation Lone Star” launched to combat the border crisis, Governor Greg Abbott said on Thursday. The operation was launched at the start of March to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas across the southern border by Mexican cartels and other smugglers. The latest figures work out to be an average of 21 criminal arrests per day, and more than 570 referrals per day to Border Patrol. State troopers have seized 14 pounds of cocaine, 23 firearms, almost $1 million in currency, and arrested nine gang members involved in the smuggling of the contraband, Abbott told a press conference in Weslaco, Texas, which is near the Texas-Mexico border. The latest figures come amid a surge in the flow of illegal immigrants …