AZMEX I3 2-5-12

AZMEX I3 2 MAY 2012

Note: more and larger groups incoming all along the border.

Over 100 thirsty immigrants freed from Edinburg stash house
May 02, 2012 6:54 PM
Jared Taylor
The Monitor
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/edinburg-60572-immigrants-stash.html
EDINBURG — The call came from inside the stash house, where more than
100 illegal immigrants claimed they were locked inside and hadn't had
food or water for days.

Edinburg police responded about 10 a.m. Wednesday to the stash houses
in the 2800 block of East University Drive.

Police found a series of rental homes at the end of a dirt road
secluded from the highway. Officers said burglar bars sealed the
home's windows and the doors were locked with chains and padlocks
from the outside.

"It was crazy," said Lt. Oscar Treviño, Edinburg police spokesman.

Officers freed the immigrants from the house. Some tried to flee into
a nearby residential neighborhood and brush. Those who remained said
they had not eaten or had anything to drink for at least three days.

Border Patrol and a Department of Public Safety helicopter helped
track down and detain the immigrants, with more than 100 people from
Mexico and Central and South America detained, Treviño said.

Seven immigrants were transported to area hospitals to treat
dehydration and malnourishment, Treviño said.

"They hadn't eaten or drank water for days," he said. "There was no
water, no light — nothing in there."

Border Patrol detained two males — one with keys to an SUV on the
property and the other with thousands of dollars in cash in his
pocket. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to investigate
the case.

Most stash houses are found just outside Edinburg — not within the
city limits, said Treviño, who urged neighbors to report similar
residences to police.

"They're just not reporting a crime," he said. "You might be saving
somebody's life."

--