A family of Mexican illegal immigrants was arrested last week after they were found to be running a “human stash house,” charging $150 for each illegal immigrant they sheltered in their Texas home, KENS5 reports.
“I was thinking they were just family that were just visiting,” said Blanca Cantu, a neighbor, about the group of illegal migrants living in the human stash house.
A Border Patrol report outlined the trafficking operation, describing how migrants paid smugglers up to $10,000 to cross the Rio Grande border. After crossing, the migrants are picked up at the border by Rodriguez who drives them to his house in Edinburgh, Texas.
The illegal immigrants usually stayed at Rodriguez’s house for a few days until they are transferred farther north. Immigrants were fed twice a day and had their phones taken from them. Rodriguez was supposedly paid $150 for each migrant he sheltered. The migrants were told to remain quiet and stay on the premises while living temporarily in the house.
“This is where the criminal organizations are a lot more elaborate trying to circumvent our efforts,” said Border Patrol RGV Sector Chief Manuel Padilla Jr. in reference to illegal migrants pursuing more unorthodox methods to avoid getting caught
According to the Border Patrol’s recent court filings, the illegal migrant housing operation was busted on August 6 after Border Patrol agents followed a confession from an illegal immigrant and tracked the perpetrators to a local supermarket in Edinburgh, Texas, where they were buying “large quantities of single items.”
The perpetrators were quickly taken in for questioning and Border Patrol agents conducted a raid on the human stash house the next day, arresting 29 undocumented immigrants who have come from Mexico, Central America and China.
The human stash house was revealed to be a family operation involving Jesus Rodriguez Rivas and his wife, Bertha Salazar Aleman, and their nephew, Jonathan Ramirez Aleman.