EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol Agents continue this year’s increasing trend of locating and disrupting stash houses in West Texas and southern New Mexico.
On Oct. 17, Border Patrol Agents arrested a United States citizen attempting to smuggle a group of four individuals through the Las Cruces Border Patrol Station Highway 185 checkpoint. During questioning, information was gleaned concerning a suspected stash house in Vinton, Texas.
The next day, the information led Border Patrol Agents, the El Paso Sector Integrated Targeting Team (ITT), the Anti-Smuggling Unit (ASU), the Sector Intelligence Unit (SIU) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to coordinate the successful rescue of 20 migrants. Among those arrested were citizens from Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
On Oct. 19, Deming Border Patrol Agents tracked a group of migrants that entered the United States illegally. Footprints followed by the agents led them to an abandoned property located in Columbus, New Mexico, where they encountered 31 migrants crammed inside the small mobile home.
The El Paso Sector has already had 15 stash house busts to begin Fiscal Year 2022. Last year, El Paso Sector agents encountered a record number of more than 3,200 migrants in more than 306 stash houses.
“El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents continue to successfully disrupt the illicit actions of the Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs),” said El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez. “The endless exploitation of migrants by TCOs is inhumane and detrimental to our community.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection welcomes assistance from the community. Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol while remaining anonymous by calling 1-800-635-2509.