8-15-2024 2:27am

HSI El Paso Special Agents Discover 56 Migrants in West El Paso Stash House

Chris Edwards Editor

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso special agents assigned to the Border Enforcement Security Task Force(BEST) Aug. 6 arrested 56 undocumented noncitizens in a stash house in West El Paso.

U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents and Department of Public Safety troopers assisted with the case.

The migrants were all adults — 49 from Mexico, five from Guatemala and two from El Salvador. There were 15 women in the group, and all the migrants were turned over to Border Patrol for processing. HSI special agents made the discovery after executing a search warrant in a house in the 1500 block of Murchison Drive. The investigation is ongoing.

“Human smugglers prey on the desperation of foreign nationals with hopes of coming to the United States to chase the American dream,” said HSI El Paso acting Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens. “However, what they encounter is the American nightmare in the hands of callous transnational criminal organizations who see them as nothing else than merchandise. HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively seek those who undermine our nation’s immigration laws and victimize people for profit.”

“In FY24, Border Patrol agents, in conjunction with our law enforcement partners, have rescued approximately 2,300 migrants from stash houses,” said USBP El Paso Sector Chief Anthony Scott Good. “These stash houses commonly are unsanitary, overcrowded, unsafe, and sometimes with little to no running water.”

The primary mission of HSI’s BESTs is to combat emerging and existing transnational criminal organizations by employing the full range of federal, state, local, tribal and international law enforcement authorities and resources in the fight to identify, investigate, disrupt and dismantle these organizations at every level of operation. The BEST investigative model is a comprehensive response to the growing threat to border security, public safety and national security. BESTs eliminate the barriers between federal and local investigations (access to both federal and state prosecutors) and close the gap with international partners in multinational criminal investigations.

Members of the public who have information about smuggling activity are urged to call the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.