05 May 97 Migrants Found in a Two-Bedroom Stash House- 5 Suspects Under Custody
After 97 undocumented immigrants were found living in a single Houston home, five people were charged with participating in an alleged smuggling operation. These 97 migrants were found on Friday in a community that is just 300 miles away from the Mexico border.
US Attorney Jennifer Lowery said in a statement that all five suspects are being accused of harboring, concealing and shielding immigrants for financial gains. Out of five suspects, one suspect is from Honduras, two are from El Salvador and the remaining two are from Mexico. If found guilty, each of them will be facing a 10-year jail time.
Among 97 migrants, 5 are women and all of them are adults. According to the reports and court documents, they were being kept in a “stash house”, which had only two bedrooms and the windows were concealed so that no one could escape. Some were taken to the hospital after they complained about not having any food or water for three days. Moreover, 5 among 97 tested positive for COVID-19 and the remaining test results are pending.
According to the officials, the investigation began when a woman called the authorities stating that her brother was kidnapped. Reportedly, she has already paid $10,000 to the smugglers. However, the smugglers were threatening to kill her if she didn’t pay more. After tracking the woman’s phone to the home, a raid was carried out by the Houston Swat team.
The officials also found a ledger containing the names and the amount paid by each illegal immigrant. Most of the immigrants complained about how they were given death threats if they failed to pay the desired amount.
This raid was followed after several other houses, overflowing with illegal immigrants, were discovered by the police. On Wednesday, border patrol officials uncovered four homes in the Rio Grande Valley and raided another home in Texas on Thursday.
SOURCE- BBC
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