Border Patrol Agents teamed up with local, state, and other federal law enforcement partners to shut down four human smuggling stash houses in South Texas. The raids over a two-day period resulted in the apprehension of 159 illegal immigrants.
Rio Grande Valley Sector agents carried out raids on four separate houses in cooperation with other law enforcement officials. The raids resulted in the arrests of 159 illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.
The raids began on Sunday when Border Patrol agents teamed up with special agents from CBP’s Homeland Security Investigations and Mission Police Department officers to raid a suspected human smuggling stash house. Once inside, the agents found 50 illegal immigrants warehoused inside the Mission, Texas, residence.
The following day, Border Patrol agents carried out three more stash house raids in the border towns of Donna, Alamo, and Edinburg, Texas. While working with Hidalgo County Constable’s Office deputies, the agents found 109 migrants packed into the houses.
Officials said the migrants found inside the stash houses came to the U.S. from Belize, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The migrants included men, women, and children.
After providing medical attention for any in need, the agents transported the illegal immigrants to the McAllen Station for processing where they could face charges of illegal entry without inspection.
Officials did not disclose the results of background investigations on the subjects. Often, Border Patrol agents find previously deported illegal immigrants mixed in with the groups. Additionally, the agents also find violent criminals hiding amidst the women and children. Sometimes those include rapists and child molesters.
Border Patrol agents previously told Breitbart Texas that migrants are often abused inside stash houses, which are operated by cartel-connected human smugglers. Men are frequently beaten as a form of intimidation and the women are often raped. They are packed inside the small houses in what Border Patrol officials have described as “deplorable conditions” where there is inadequate plumbing, filthy kitchen areas, a lack of food and water, and a lack of air conditioning inside the excessively hot houses. Migrants are also frequently held for ransom as the smugglers attempt to extort additional money from the families of their hostages.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, GAB, and Facebook.