86 Migrants Found in Human Smuggling Stash Houses in Texas near Border

Border Patrol agents in South Texas recovered 86 migrants from human smuggling stash houses near the border. The incidents took place in the Laredo and Rio Grande Valley Sectors.

Laredo Sector agents teamed up with federal and local law enforcement officials to respond to a reported human smuggling stash house in south Laredo on November 2, according to information obtained from Border Patrol officials. Agents and officers found nearly 30 migrants packed inside the house.

Agents identified the migrants as citizens of Guatemala and Mexico. Officials reported that none of the migrants wore PPE to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  The agents medically screened the migrants and transported them for processing.

“Stash houses are a threat to national security and a threat to the people in our communities not only due to the criminal activity they are linked to but also because of the lack of sanitary conditions which can foster a breeding ground for illnesses or other communicable diseases,” Laredo Sector officials said in a written statement.

At about the same time, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents teamed up with the Starr County Sheriff’s Office to raid a drug and human smuggling stash house in Escobares, Texas. The agents found 21 migrants in a travel trailer and 230 pounds of marijuana.

The agents arrested a smuggler with a loaded gun, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings tweeted.

Two days earlier, Hastings tweeted another image of two stash houses in Donna and Havana, Texas. The agents found 27 migrants in the two stash houses.