Ton of pot discovered: Stash-house bust also finds undocumented immigrants
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 03/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


Click photo to enlargeUndercover police loaded bundles of marijuana into the back of a... (Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)«123»Federal agents toting strollers, baby bags and fuzzy blankets escorted a group of immigrant children out of a suspected "stash house" busted Tuesday in a Northeast neighborhood.
What began in the morning with an anonymous call to El Paso police about a suspicious vehicle turned into a seizure of 2,309 pounds of marijuana and an investigation into immigrant smuggling involving children ranging in age from 2 to 8, law enforcement officials said.

The children were with parents.

"The activities of a (drug) stash house and a human trafficking house are very similar," police spokesman Javier Sambrano said, while narcotics officers in ninja masks searched the beige brick home.

Around 11:30 a.m., a patrol officer responding to the suspicious-vehicle call found two men and some marijuana in a large trailer hooked to a red Ford Expedition that was backed into the driveway of the house in the 10700 block of Port Arthur, Sambrano said.

Police arrested Baltazar Galan Lopez, 48, who lives in the home, and Daniel Lopez, 24, who lives at another address on the same street, Sambrano said.

After backup officers arrived, more marijuana bricks were found in the home, along with three women and their six children, officials said.

The multi-agency Border Enforcement Security Team, which is lead by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is handling the immigrant-smuggling case.

ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said four of the children are U.S. citizens, but all


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the others are from the Mexico City region or Michoacan state.
She said the men arrested were also from Mexico.

Interviews were taking place Tuesday evening to learn where the undocumented immigrants might have been headed.

"The mothers have agreed to voluntarily return to Mexico, and they are choosing to take their children with them," Zamarripa said.

One neighbor said different vehicles would frequently stop at the home, which still had Christmas lights hanging.

Other neighbors said the drug bust was unexpected on the street where children regularly play outdoors.

"Are you serious?" neighbor Emily Davila asked after arriving home to learn of the day's events. "We moved over here (about three weeks ago) because we thought it was a quiet area. That's surprising."

Narcotics investigators say El Paso is a major drug-trafficking shipment point and possibly has hundreds of stash houses.


Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.






Whom to call

To report suspected stash houses, call Crime Stoppers of El"Paso at 566-8477 or the West Texas Stash House Unit at 629-8600.

You may remain anonymous.

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