Texas Police Rescue Dozens Of Near Naked People From Suspected Human Smuggling Ring In Harris County
HARRIS COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - Police in Texas are investigating a possible human smuggling operation after nearly 30 people were found in a home in Harris County.
Officials located the group after a man was seen running down a residential street in his underwear on the evening of Thursday, December 3.
The man was yelling that he had been kidnapped and when police arrived, he led them to a house where dozens of others -- all only wearing undergarments -- were being held.
Police believe the victims had been picked up in Brownsville and had been held at the location for up to a week.
25 males and 1 female. Officers found this was a human smuggling operation and are cooperating with DHS. Fort Bend ISD police assisted by opening a nearby school gym so the victims could get out of the cold. 202
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) December 4, 2020
A police spokesperson explained that some people of interest tried to hide in plain sight. "I think what the suspects did is they undressed and they hid among the other people," explained Houston police Lt. Jose Torres. "And so we pulled out the ones that looked clean, that still had their jewelry, most people were dirty and didn't have jewelry on. These few people did."
Authorities detained several people possibly involved in the smuggling operation.
The people who had been held at the home were mostly from Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba and Honduras, news outlets reported. Police said they were taken to a Fort Bend Independent School District gymnasium to get out of the cold.
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