ICE Arrests Suspected Human Smuggler After More Than 50 Illegal Immigrants Found In El Paso Home
EL PASO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Special agents with ICE and Homeland Security arrested a Mexican man on human smuggling charges after discovering 54 illegal immigrants, including two unaccompanied teenagers, in an overcrowded home in El Paso.
On Tuesday, authorities executed a search warrant at a duplex which was being used to harbor illegal immigrants who were smuggled into the United States.
The group consisted of 45 men, five women, two accompanied teenagers and two teenagers traveling alone from the following five nations: Belize, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
Some of the people in the group had been at the stash house for more than a week. 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 man allegedly responsible for harboring the group was arrested on federal charges and remains in custody.
