A Texas agent from the Laredo Sector Border Patrol was arrested on Friday, May 21 for human trafficking after more than 180 migrants were found in three separate "stash houses" earlier in May.
A grand jury indicted the unnamed agent for felony charges "related to transporting undocumented individuals for private gain," a statement from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) said, as reported by Newsweek.
The case has been turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas, news site Wavy reported.
"On May 4, legal authorities discovered 68 undocumented immigrants living in one house," Newsweek reported. "On that same day, authorities located a second house containing 50 undocumented individuals. Later that same evening, authorities then found a third house with 65 undocumented people."
CBP said in a statement that stash houses continue to be a threat to national security because they are used by criminal organizations in addition to the personal harm done to victims kept there.
"Stash houses continue to be a threat to national security and to the citizens of our nation, not only because of their use by criminal organizations but they are also a danger to the people they exploit by concealing them in dilapidated close quarters such as these," the CBP said in a statement, as reported by Newsweek.
According to Newsweek, it is unclear if the stash houses are directly related to the agent arrested. Wavy reported that Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Carl Landrum stated all the migrants found in the stash houses were held against their will, and said that citizens should report suspicious activities.
"Human trafficking often involves the recruitment, transportation and harboring of people by means of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of exploitation, according to the United Nations documents on trafficking," Newsweek reported. "Traffickers often lure people with promises of good jobs, education, economic security and love, according to Justice for Immigrants, a U.S. Catholic immigration reform organization. Trafficking victims can then be held against their wills while traffickers try to sell them as laborers or sex workers."
A University of Texas at Austin report done in 2016 said there are approximately 78,996 minor and youth victims of human trafficking and 234,457 victims of labor trafficking in Texas at any given time. This is a total of 313,453 human trafficking victims.
In an official statement, the U.S CBP said it “stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission” and will “continue to support the criminal or administrative investigation of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel,” as reported by Wavy.
The agent has been placed on indefinite suspension and is awaiting trial.
