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Investigators: Drugs hidden in plain sight inside border stash homes
by ANGELA KOCHERGA

WFAA

Posted on June 27, 2010 at 11:03 PM

EL PASO — The war on Mexico’s border is being fueled by money, drugs and guns, and now cartels are hiding those drugs in plain sight in homes all along the border, investigators said.

Kyle Summers, a supervisor with the El Paso Police Department’s Stash House Unit said El Paso was the first border city to create a team targeting the places where traffickers hide drugs.

"They’ll set up a house to amass whatever amount they need to ship out," he said.

They ship nationwide, you might call it a hub—which is why the federal government helps pay for the unit.

To avoid losing big loads, police said traffickers stash smaller amounts of drugs in more homes as opposed to a huge amount in one location.

A great-grandmother says she was disturbed after learning police arrested a man with a box of marijuana (about 60 pounds) inside a house just a few steps away.

"I think it is an issue that needs to be taken care of and it worries me, you know, it could be around here, especially in a safe quiet neighborhood and there’s a school down the road, you know, so that concerns me too," she said.

While some stash houses look neglected, it’s more common to hide drugs in newer homes and, in some cases, they are set up took look like a family is living there, investigators said.

"They were just paid to pretend they were husband and wife and take care of the dope. Yeah, a rent-a-family," Summers said.

Traffickers are also stashing cash and weapons along with the drugs, he said. Police said they seized nearly two dozen AK-47s at one house and protective gear at another.

"There was about 23 vests, and also Kevlar helmets, 50 Kevlar helmets and heavy-duty trauma plates for the vests, which they were destined to go south to Mexico," he said.

He said in Juarez, rival drug cartels are locked in a bloody battle for smuggling routes.

E-mail akocherga@belo.com

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