More than 90 people found in Texas home in what police called a human smuggling operation
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating after more than 90 people were found in a house in southwest Houston in what police are calling a human smuggling operation.
Assistant Police Chief Daryn Edwards said police received a kidnapping call Thursday night, and the homicide division worked through the night to enter the house with a tactical team.
"When they got inside the house they realized that this is actually going to turn into a human smuggling investigation," Edwards said at a Friday news conference, adding, "It was a big surprise when we got in the house and saw what we saw."
Officers discovered dozens of people "huddled together" in the two-story home. Five of the people were women, and the rest were men, Edwards said. There were no children inside, and the youngest person is in their early 20s, he said.
Officials: Smuggler recorded 'viciously' dropping girls off border wall, leaving them alone in desert
Edwards said it "didn't look like there were any serious injuries involved." Officers gave the people food and water because "they said they haven't eaten in a while," he said.
Edwards said officers were "concerned" there may be COVID-19 cases among the group, and the health department was en route to do rapid testing. Some people were not able to smell or taste, and some had fevers, he said.
© Godofredo A. Vasquez, AP Emergency personnel don PPE before entering the home where more than 90 undocumented immigrants were found on the 12200 block of Chessington Drive, Friday, April 30, 2021, in Houston. A Houston Police official said the case will be handled by federal authorities and that some of the people inside the house were exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
"We haven't heard anything from any of the neighbors as far as anything that would lead them to believe that there was something like that going on. It's very surprising," he said.
Edwards called the incident "disturbing" and "obviously not something that we see often." He said Homeland Security Investigations, the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was looking into it.
"It is definitely more of a smuggling thing and not a trafficking thing," Edwards said.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, human trafficking involves
exploiting people for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation, while human smuggling involves the provision of a service — typically, transportation or fraudulent documents — to an individual who voluntarily seeks to gain illegal entry into a foreign country.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More than 90 people found in Texas home in what police called a human smuggling operation
Tags
Who is online
413 visitors
When I see a story like this one, I am reminded of one of my favorite movies--"Field of Dreams".
"Invite them, and they will come"
gee, right wing business owners must be expecting a labor shortage soon, especially the paid less than minimum wage variety.
There are many job openings in America right now.
Look around.
More jobs than people willing to work them.
Who gets paid less than minimum wage?
Gee, no left wing morons ever hire illegals./S
Democrats have been ringing the dinner bell since their primaries. They have done jack shit of nothing to stem the tide since Biden took office. In fact every move Biden makes is an invitation for more illegals to come.
Biden and the Democrats own this mess; and are doing nothing but throwing gas on the fire. Illegal immigration is at it's highest point in 20 years.
Biden and the Democrats own this crisis. Lock, stock, and smoking barrel.
Of course they do own it.
Problem is even getting them to admit that there is a problem to begin with.
That nonsense about "right wing business owners" is just a crock of shit.
The cartels have their filthy hands all over this ongoing invasion of illegals
That doesn't seem to bother the lefties, who are reduced to making stupid comments
That actually could be considered a big step up for some.
I'm a little surprised they haven't worked Trump into it somehow.