Federal agents bust alleged immigrant stash house in South El Paso

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested a Mexican man on human smuggling charges after discovering 54 undocumented immigrants, including two unaccompanied teenagers, in an overcrowded residence in south El Paso.

On Tuesday, March 26, 2019, members of the HSI El Paso Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), which includes U.S. Border Patrol agents and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers, executed a search warrant at a duplex in the 100 block of Seville Drive.

Investigators said the unit was being used to harbor undocumented immigrants smuggled into the United States. The group consisted of 45 adult males, five adult females, two accompanied teenagers, and two teenagers traveling alone. The immigrants were from the countries of Belize, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.

Some undocumented immigrants had been in the stash house for more than a week, officials said. Several individuals required medical attention for injuries they sustained while crossing into the United States.

” The overcrowded conditions of this stash house in a residential neighborhood show the lack of respect human smugglers have for people who put their lives in smugglers’ hands, ” said Jack P. Staton , special agent in charge of HSI El Paso. ” HSI continues to target transnational criminal organizations that rake in huge profits by illegally smuggling people with clear disregard for their safety and welfare. ”

The Mexican man allegedly responsible was arrested on federal charges and remains in custody. He has not been identified.