Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested over a dozen migrants following a raid in a stash house in Mercedes, Texas.
The operation took place following an anonymous tip. After officials went to the property, its owner said there were 16 people inside the home. All were taken into custody, while a separate person was questioned for his potential role in human smuggling.
The raid is part of several operations that have taken place across the country. On Tuesday, three men were indicted for their role in the smuggling of dozens of migrants in a mobile home in New Mexico earlier this year.
Concretely, the men have been charged with conspiracy, transportation and harboring of illegal aliens, according to Border Report.
The incident unfolded after agencies received information that migrants were inside a home in a small town in New Mexico just north of El Paso.
After reaching the home, the agents saw a man who exited the house and approached him. He identified himself as Guatemalan and said he did not have documents to be in the country.
In May, two Texans pleaded guilty to charging thousands of dollars to smuggle migrants into the U.S. through Laredo.
The men in question, Mac Quese Howard and De Richardson Miller, admitted to conspiring to transport migrants through Laredo, in South Texas, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said, according to Border Report.
The men were caught after attempting to circumvent a Border Patrol checkpoint near Laredo. After being stopped for the traffic violation, authorities found three migrants hidden in the back seat of the car.
After being detained, the men confessed they had traveled from their home outside Lubbock to Laredo to take the migrants, whose ultimate destination was San Antonio. They expected to receive $5,000 for driving the migrants. They could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and get a fine of up to $250,000.
And earlier that month, a dozen migrants were found hidden inside hollow hay bales following a traffic stop in the state.
Fayette County Sheriff Keith Korenek said an official stopped a pickup truck carrying a trailer loaded with the bales about 90 miles east of San Antonio.
A closer inspection of the vehicle showed that the bales had been "meticulously altered and hollowed out to create concealed compartments," the sheriff said.
After looking inside, authorities found metal frameworks and "multiple undocumented individuals being smuggled in dangerously confined spaces."
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