Border Patrol agents along the Rio Grande River border with Mexico continue to disrupt human smuggling operations by shutting down stash houses. The smugglers frequently pack migrants into the houses with inadequate plumbing and kitchen facilities. Border Patrol officials previously called these “deplorable” conditions.

Agents assigned to the McAllen Border Patrol Station worked with Hidalgo County Constable’s Office deputies to identify a stash house near Mission, Texas. The agents and deputies carried out a raid on the house on Wednesday, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Rio Grande Valley Sector officials.

The raid resulted in the arrest of 17 illegal immigrants. Officials said the 17 migrants came to the U.S. from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

Agents assigned to the Laredo Sector teamed up with FBI agents to crack down on a human smuggling stash house in the border town of Laredo. Agents learned of the stash house after receiving a call from the Iowa State Police. The tip came from family members reporting that the human smugglers were holding the migrants against their will. This is a common practice carried out by the cartel-connected human smugglers. The smugglers will hold people for ransom after smuggling them across the border — demanding money in addition to what they have already been paid. Frequently these demands are accompanied by threats of violence or action violence including rape of the women and beating of the men, Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart Texas.

Laredo Sector officials said the migrants came to the U.S. from Ecuador and Mexico.

Agents arrested all of the migrants who could face criminal charges for illegally entering the U.S.

“United States Border Patrol continues to work in coordination with our law enforcement partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and these collaborative efforts, as this enforcement action illustrates, continue to help disrupt illicit activity and deny criminal organizations the ability to operate,” Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta said in a written statement. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute those responsible and prevent individuals from being subjected to deplorable conditions.”