A third person has been arrested in relation to a harboring investigation that began after two people in the country illegally said they were being held for ransom.
Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Francisco Javier Ayala-Reyes, a U.S. citizen born in 2001, on Wednesday and accused him of transporting people in the country illegally to stash houses in Peñitas.
The criminal complaint against him alleges he was armed with a handgun in his waistband while transporting the people.
The investigation into the trio began on Nov. 15 when a woman found two people from El Salvador who had been dropped off mistakenly at her mother-in-law’s residence.
Those people said they had been held against their will at a stash house and charged a $2,600 ransom for their release, according to the complaint.
The investigation into the mistaken drop-off resulted in the arrests of Leticia Sosa-Medina, a Mexican citizen born in 1967, and Giovanni Tellez, a U.S. citizen born in 2002.
Federal authorities allege Sosa-Medina owned the residence and provided the 17 to 18 people held at the residence with food. The complaint against her says she told them not to make any noise and to stay in the bedroom where they were being held.
Tellez is accused of being the stash house’s caretaker and patting everyone down for phones and weapons. He’s also accused of brandishing a machete to intimidate the people into staying in the bedroom.
HSI executed a warrant at the stash house a week ago and arrested the pair.
“Both Sosa-Medina and Tellez were apprehended and transported for interviews,” the complaint said. “Ledgers, hand drawn maps of the Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, weapons and foreign identification documents from different countries were found within the residence and seized.”
Sosa-Medina is being held without bond pending the resolution of her case while Tellez appeared in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker on Wednesday.
The minute entry for the proceeding indicates Hacker heard bond arguments and will issue a ruling at a later date.
Ayala made a first appearance Thursday morning in front of Hacker and is being temporarily held without bond pending a detention hearing scheduled for next Tuesday.
