Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies are targeting cartel "stash houses" filled with illegal aliens along the U.S. border. The stash houses serve as waystations for illegal aliens who paid a cartel to be smuggled into the country, where they await handoff to other human traffickers who will transport them further north from the border.
The latest reported stash house raid occurred Monday, June 2, 2025, in Mercedes, Texas, where local police officers, acting on information provided by US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), discovered 16 illegal immigrants inside a home there.
The illegal aliens were from Nepal, Albania, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. A Mexican man inside the home is being held for questioning for possibly being a part of the cartel smuggling organization that was in charge of the house. This raid follows a series of raids reported all along the border during May.
On May 30, 2025, US Border Patrol Agents learned a cartel was operating a stash house just across the border from Ajo, Arizona. They notified their Mexican law enforcement counterparts, who raided it. The Mexicans found no migrants inside, but they didn't come away empty-handed.
They arrested five cartel members inside the house and seized a small arsenal of cartel weapons and ammunition.
These stash houses are sometimes located far from the Southern Border. On May 22, 2025, ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Agents found 15 illegal aliens inside a stash house in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
However, most of the stash house raids reported in May occurred in Texas. The day before the raid in Pennsylvania, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents raided a stash house being filled with newly arrived illegal aliens who were still wearing camouflaged clothing used to elude agents when they crossed the border. Eighteen illegal aliens were busted during that operation.
The May 15, 2025, raid of a Laredo stash house by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) resulted in the apprehension of 29 illegal aliens, including a heavily-tattooed member of the violent Tango Blast gang. The State of Texas offers up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification of stash houses through the Texas Stash House Rewards Program.
In addition to the Tango Blast gang member mentioned earlier, these stash house raids are also resulting in officers discovering and arresting members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) Gang, which the US has designated as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization."
On May 6, 2025, Border Patrol and ICE Agents announced the arrest of a TdA member during the raid of an El Paso stash house that resulted in the apprehension of three other Venezuelans who had illegally entered the country.
So far during this fiscal year, the El Paso Border Patrol Sector has conducted more than 150 stash house raids, which have resulted in the apprehension of more than 1,800 illegal aliens.
Would increasing criminal penalties for operating a "Stash House" prevent more of these from popping up along the border?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
Fantastic work by your ppl. What is the present penalty? Do you see recidivism?