A 911 call from a woman who said human smugglers were demanding $6,000 on top of $11,000 she had already paid them to bring her brother from Honduras led to the discovery of 97 immigrants locked in a Houston home.
Houston, Texas. (Image by David Mark from Pixabay via Courthouse News)
HOUSTON (CN) — Five people have been arrested on federal human smuggling charges after authorities found 97 undocumented immigrants locked in two bedrooms of a Houston home Friday.
Francis Martinez of Dallas called 911 Friday to report her brother Santos Vaquedano had been kidnapped, according to court documents.
Martinez told Houston police she had paid smugglers $11,000 in February to bring Vaquedano from Honduras to the United States. She said a man and a woman had called her Thursday and told her to drive to Houston, meet them at a Walgreens parking lot and pay them another $6,300 for Vaquedano’s release.