Migrants apprehended by El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents in a "stash house" sheltering 17 a cartel intended to move deeper into the U.S.Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

We have several migrant "stash house" busts to report as Texas-based U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Agents and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Officers raided key parts of Mexican Cartel's human trafficking operations along the Southern Border within the past 30 days.

A "stash house" is a way station where Cartel smugglers "park" migrants they have recently smuggled across the Rio Grande for various reasons (commonly until they pay more money or arrangements can be made to transport them deeper into the U.S. to their destination of choice).

Migrants routed from a Mexican Cartel "stash house" by El Paso, Texas Sector Border Patrol Agents (August, 2024)Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

These "stash house" raids are an important tool in the fight against the Mexican Cartel's Human Smuggling Operations because the migrants sheltered there have usually evaded U.S. authorities at the border and inland highway checkpoints - so these are often their last stops before arriving at desired destinations (which can be hundreds of miles inland from the border).

One particular hot spot for "stash house" raids by the U.S. Border Patrol is the El Paso Sector. Agents raided 244 Stash Houses there and apprehended 2,389 inside those "stash houses" so far this fiscal year. The conditions - Border Patrol Agents say are often inhumane:

Migrants found in a stash house by El Paso, Texas Sector Border Patrol Agents (August, 2024)Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

“They’ll stockpile them for a couple of days in one of these stash houses until they have enough people to put in a tractor-trailer, then lock it with no way for them to escape the brutal Texas heat. When we open up these containers, and it’s well over 105 degrees with no ventilation, no personal protective equipment, such as masks, no water. It’s tragic.” -Chief Border Patrol Agent Matthew Hudak (June, 2024)

The Border Patrol Chief in charge of the El Paso Sector says his agents - along with Homeland Security Investigators (HSI) have busted "multiple stash houses in the past 30 days."

Interior of a "stash house" crowded by migrants raided by El Paso, Texas Sector Border Patrol Agents (August, 2024)Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

We have extensively covered the ongoing battle against these "stash houses" over the past two years. If you'd like to read more about that, here are links to some of our past articles:

• State, Federal Agents Find 145 Migrants In 2 Texas Border "Stash Houses"
• Texas Border: Stash House Raids Surge in October
• Migrant Stash Houses Border Busts

Finally, if you'd like to see what a "stash house" raid looks like - the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has posted body-cam video of a recent "stash house raid in Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley:

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• Big Border Drug Busts: Cops vs. Cartels

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