Federal law enforcement agents seized more than 50 illegal immigrants hiding out in stash houses in Mission, Texas, this week, Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday.
Border officials received a tip that led to the discovery of dozens of people cramped inside two apartments on Monday afternoon, the agency said.
“Agents, in collaboration with Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Safety, obtained consent to search the apartments. Inside the filthy apartments, agents arrested a total of 56 people who admitted to being in the United States illegally,” the agency said in a statement.
Five Mexican nationals were identified as the smugglers overseeing the operation and were arrested on additional charges. Those being held at the house were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The 56 individuals were transported to the McAllen Border Patrol Station a few miles away and processed.
Mission is in the Rio Grande Valley, which has seen the highest levels of illegal immigration in recent years. Of the 54,000 apprehensions in fiscal 2016 by nine border sector branches, more than 33,000 were made in the Rio Grande.
All of the stash houses Border Patrol agents uncovered were in the Rio Grande Valley in fiscal 2016, which ended Friday. More than 150 people were taken into federal custody and processed back to their home countries.
