Texas Border Patrol agents on June 10 arrested over 100 illegal immigrants who were being guarded by smugglers inside an alleged stash house, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Friday.
CBP said in a statement that officials with the Laredo Sector Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and Laredo Police Department joined forces to shut down the stash house that was being guarded by smugglers in south Laredo.
“Imagine having to share inhumane living conditions with over 100 people! Harsh Reality look inside a #stashhouse discovered today by #USBP Laredo Sector!” CBP South Texas wrote on Twitter, sharing footage taken by officials at the scene.
Imagine having to share inhumane living conditions with over 100 people!
— CBP South Texas (@CBPSouthTexas) June 10, 2021
#BorderSecurity #stashhouse 🚨 @mylaredopd
Harsh Reality look inside a #stashhouse discovered today by #USBP Laredo Sector! 🔽
Follow ➡️@USBPChiefLRT pic.twitter.com/86aRdAN1JW
The illegal aliens were found to be from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. All individuals were taken into custody for further investigation and were medically screened, the agency said.
CBP said that the smuggling and housing of large groups of individuals in stash houses by criminal groups hasn’t slowed despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Stash house incidents such as this pose a threat not only to the people exploited by human smuggling but also to the people and safety of our Nation,” the agency said in its press release.
CBP has since the start of the fiscal year shut down nearly 200 stash houses and arrested more than 4,000 illegal immigrants, local NBC affiliate KGNS reported.
The number of illegal crossings at the southern border has spiked since President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20. For the month of May, border patrol agents apprehended 180,034 individuals illegally entering the United States—the highest number seen in a single month in more than two decades.
