25 migrants, 2 alleged smugglers arrested in Lower Valley stash house
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Homeland Security Investigations arrested 25 undocumented migrants and two alleged smugglers in a stash house on Monday, March 4 in El Paso’s Lower Valley, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE).
ICE says Cesar Daniel Hernandez-Ortiz, 23, and Angel Gabriel Lopez-Alvarado, 18, were charged with human smuggling and are currently in federal custody.
Both men and 25 undocumented noncitizens were discovered in a stash house on the 200 block of Sofia Place. Agents also seized $2,890 from the alleged smugglers.
ICE says 16 were from Mexico, four from Honduras, two from Guatemala, two from El Salvador, and one from Bolivia.
ICE says Hernandez-Ortiz and Lopez-Alvarado are both Mexican nationals who were unlawfully present in the U.S.
On Tuesday, March 5, a U.S. district judge ordered Hernandez-Ortiz and Lopez-Alvarado to be detained without bond. A detention and preliminary hearing is set for Friday, March 8 in federal court.
U.S. Border Patrol agents collaborated with HSI special agents in this investigation.
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