Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector rescued a group of 60 illegal immigrants held in two stash houses. Human smugglers moved them from Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil across the U.S.-Mexico Border.
On Saturday, agents assigned to the Rio Grande City Station received a call for assistance from local police officers. When the agents arrived on the scene, they discovered 35 illegal immigrants being stashed in a home. They hailed from Mexico and Guatemala, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
The following day, the Rio Grande City Station received a call from a “concerned citizen” who reported suspicious activity at a home in the border community. Police and Border Patrol agents responded to the scene and discovered 25 illegal immigrants in the home. They came to the U.S. from Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil.
Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations arrived at the stash house and arrested one person in connection to the human smuggling effort.
Migrants are warehoused on both sides of the Texas border region.
On Tuesday, Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles reported that Mexican authorities found 301 migrants who Mexican cartel members kidnapped and held under duress. The kidnapped individuals came to Mexico from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Mexico–all reportedly bound for a border crossing into Texas.
The migrants admitted to paying human smugglers $4,000 (USD) per person in cash. Sixteen members of the Gulf Cartel kidnapped them from their original smugglers and were held for additional ransom. They indicated they had been transported in tractor-trailers.
In 2017, a judge in South Texas issued stiff prison sentences to human smugglers who were part of a U.S.-based migrant kidnapping operation. The judge handed down sentences ranging from 16 to 30 years to each of the five men involved in the scheme.
Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on stash house operations all across the Lone Star State.
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.