Border Patrol agents and Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office deputies found more than 50 people illegally in the country at a Pharr residence Thursday, according to a criminal complaint.
The agents had been tipped off about the home being used to harbor people who had illegally entered the United States and conducted surveillance on the property, the complaint read.
During the surveillance, agents saw a black Chevrolet Silverado with a dent to the rear passenger door arrive at the home and park in front of the garage. The driver, later identified as Alejandro Jaret Diaz-Iparrea, exited the vehicle and manually opened the garage door to drive the truck inside.
Once inside, Diaz closed the garage door only to open it again, pushed out the Silverado and then left the residence on foot, the complaint said.
Deputies and agents approached Diaz and questioned him about his involvement in smuggling people, to which he admitted to dropping off one person at the residence and said there were about 30 more inside, according to the complaint.
When agents knocked on the front door, an unidentified man greeted them and willingly exited the home where they found 55 other people inside.
In a statement given to authorities, Diaz said he had crossed the Rio Grande illegally on April 17, paying $3,000 in smuggling fees, and was offered $50 for every person he transported, the report said.
Diaz said he had been contacted earlier that day to transport others to the residence, but after doing so, the truck wouldn’t start.
One of the people Diaz transported was Maria Edeldina Turcios-Lemus, of Honduras, whose cousin arranged for her to be smuggled across the river, according to the report.
Turcios told authorities that the home didn’t have any food for the people there, the complaint said.
Another person Diaz allegedly smuggled was Oscar Armando Herrera-Trejo, a citizen from El Salvador, who paid $11,000 in order for him and his wife to be smuggled to Reynosa, Mexico and an additional $8,000 to cross the Rio Grande, the document stated.
Herrera told agents that a man named “Chino,” who had introduced himself as the residence’s caretaker, would occasionally call him by phone to ask him questions regarding the house and would drop off food, according to the complaint.
Herrera later identified Diaz as “Chino” in a photo lineup.
