Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested a Mission resident, who was allegedly holding people in the country illegally against their will, by tracing a telephonic ping.
Alejandro Treviño was arrested Thursday after HSI agents traced the ping to his residence in Mission. The Hidalgo Police Department assisted by providing information in the case to homeland agents.
According to the criminal complaint, Treviño allowed HSI agents, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, Border Patrol agents and Hidalgo County Sheriff’s deputies to search his residence.
During their investigation, they found two men in a stash house behind the residence who Treviño claimed he did not know about.
Among them was Juan Antonio Espinosa Castro, a citizen of Mexico, who claimed he was “being held against his will and threatened with death” if his mother did not provide Treviño with $6,500.
The other man, Cristian Alonzo Guzman Ramos, a citizen of Honduras, told authorities Treviño threatened to kill him if his family did not pay an undisclosed amount of money. The complaint gave no further information about those allegations.
Castro told authorities he had arrived at the house with three others about a week ago after Treviño transported him there to the residence where Treviño was holding 18 other people, according to the complaint. But when authorities arrived, there were only two people left in the residence.
Both men told authorities that Treviño was the caretaker at the residence and would provide them with food. When police arrived at his residence, he told the men to clean up and run away.
