Border Patrol agents working near the Rio Grande River border with Mexico identified five stash houses and arrested nearly 70 illegal immigrants inside. Agents worked with local law enforcement agencies to conduct the raids.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the McAllen Station teamed up with Homeland Security Investigations and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office to raid three houses near the border town of Mission, Texas. The combined law enforcement officials carried out the raids on Tuesday and arrested 52 illegal immigrants, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Border Patrol officials.

Rio Grande City agents teamed up with officers from the Rio Grande City Police Department to raid another stash house on the same day. Agents found and arrested six illegal aliens inside the house, officials stated.

One day earlier, Rio Grande City agents teamed up with officers from the Roma Police Department to raid a fifth stash house in two days. Inside the house, agents found eight illegal immigrants and took them into custody.

In total, the Rio Grande Valley Sector agents, working with local law enforcement officers and Homeland Security Investigations, carried out operations against five stash houses in two days. The operations to identify and disrupt these human smuggling activities led to the arrest of 66 illegal immigrants. Officials said these migrants came to the U.S. from Belize, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru.

Breitbart Texas reported extensively on the efforts by Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement organizations to crack down on smugglers who warehouse their human cargo in small houses located along the border towns and in interior cities along intermediate stops along the smuggling route.

Earlier this month, agents in the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo Sectors carried out another series of raids that led to the arrests of 227.

Migrants are kept locked inside stash houses near the Mexican border until their journey to the U.S. interior can be scheduled. Often, they are beaten and held for ransom as cartel-connected human smugglers attempt to extort additional money from family members.

The migrants are now subject to prosecution in criminal court for illegally entering the U.S. according to a “zero tolerance” policy put in place by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions this month.

“If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you — it’s that simple. If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, we will prosecute you,” Sessions said earlier this month.

However, the attorney general appears to be having a difficult time enforcing his new policy. DOJ prosecutors and at least one federal judge appear to not be executing Sessions’ new policy of zero tolerance for illegal border crossers, Breitbart Texas reported on Tuesday.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, GAB, and Facebook.