Laredo, Texas Human Smuggling Operation Busted, 47 Illegals Arrested

The bust of a human smuggling stash house in Laredo, Texas resulted in the arrest of 47 illegal aliens and a man suspected of harboring and transporting them on Tuesday.

Deputies of the Webb County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant on a residence in the border city, after county and federal officials performing surveillance on the home noticed an unusual amount of individuals entering and exiting the premises. WCSO deputies arrested 47 unlawful aliens, and a man named Jose Arcos-Alejo was identified as a suspect in operating the smuggling stash house.

According to an affadavit, Arcos-Alejo allegedly admitted to law enforcement that he was tasked with operating the smuggling house by members of criminal smuggling groups. He allegedly claimed his own immigration smuggling fee was reduced by $5,000 in return for his operation of the stash house.

Arcos-Alejo has been criminally charged with attempting to hide and harbor illegal aliens, a federal offense. 38 men, eight women, and one minor were arrested in the bust.

WCSO confirmed to Big League Politics that the 47 aliens found at the stash house have been transferred to the custody of Customs and Border Patrol.

Illegal immigration ground to a halt at the very apogee of the coronavirus epidemic, but drug and human smuggling organizations appear to have renewed their efforts in hopes of recouping some of their lost profits incurred as a result of the pandemic. The “most sophisticated” smuggling tunnel ever detected underneath the US-Mexico border was busted in San Luis, Arizona earlier this month.