Two El Paso men arrested, 13-year-old girl found locked in suspected stash house
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Two men were arrested after a 13-year-old girl was rescued after being found locked in a bedroom of a suspected stash house used for drug and sex trafficking in West El Paso, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
The stash house was found on Aug. 12 by Texas DPS Criminal Investigations Division special agents, state troopers, and Anti-Smuggling Units of the U.S. Border Patrol, officials said Wednesday.
An investigation began when Texas DPS received an anonymous tip about a possible human smuggling stash house on Camille Drive, located south of North Mesa Street in the Coronado area.
Border Patrol and Texas DPS agents did a knock-and-talk and spoke with home’s resident, Francisco Luevano, who gave them permission to search the house. No undocumented migrants were found, stated a criminal complaint obtained by the El Paso Times.
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When agents entered the house, they found a make-shift door with a lock in the main hallway and coded locks on each room, Texas DPS said in a news release. Small amounts of drugs were also found.
The 13-year-old girl was found sleeping in a bed in a bedroom.
An ongoing investigation alleges that the house was used for sex trafficking and drug trafficking, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, DPS said in a statement.
Investigators suspect the house was used as a "drug house or sex brothel" with a possible child victim, but there was no evidence that the girl was sexually assaulted, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by a DPS special agent.
Girl found in suspected West El Paso 'drug house'
The girl, who is originally from North Texas, was assisted by a DPS victim services counselor and the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, officials said. She is now in the care of Child Protective Services.
Jose Luis Sierra Jr., 43, and Luevano, 47, both of El Paso, were arrested on felony charges of child endangerment, according to DPS and jail records. The men are accused of negligence, showing no regard for the child’s safety and recklessly exposing her to drugs and allowing men in her bedroom.
Sierra had temporary legal custody of the girl. CPS informed DPS that the girl’s biological mother had lost parental rights because she allegedly was a fentanyl addict and suspicions of grooming the child into prostitution, the criminal complaint stated.
When agents first entered the house, they found three women and two men sitting at a kitchen table drinking alcohol. They claimed they were at the house to “party” and denied taking part in any criminal activity.
Agents saw drug paraphernalia in the kitchen, including marijuana bongs, a box of Narcan, a small scale and "baggies for cocaine," the complaint document stated. Less than a half a gram of cocaine was also found in a dresser drawer in a spare bedroom and under a mattress in Luevano's bedroom.
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Luevano told investigators that he rents the house from his brother, the complaint stated.
At one point, Sierra drove up to the house. He told DPS agents that he had just visited a marijuana dispensary and agents found a half-ounce of marijuana in two vials during a frisk search, the complaint stated.
Sierra told them that he had been in a car crash a week prior and had asked Luevano to take care of the girl while he was hospitalized, the complaint stated.
According to the affidavit, Sierra gave agents permission to search his cellphone, where agents found a text-message thread between him and the girl regarding the girl’s drug use and telling her to stop bringing over men into her bedroom at Luevano’s home because it could get the men in trouble and be perceived as human trafficking.
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Sierra also faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of less than two ounces of marijuana while Luevano faces a state jail felony charge of possession of less than a gram of cocaine, DPS added.
El Paso County Jail records show that Sierra was released on Aug. 16 on a $15,000 surety bond plus a $100 cash bond for the marijuana case.
Luevano bond out of jail on Aug. 15 on surety bonds of $15,000 and $1,500 on the child endangerment and cocaine possession charges, according to jail records.
While being transported by a state trooper to CPS custody, the girl began to feel nauseous and threw up. She told the trooper that she was having withdrawals from marijuana use. The trooper told the girl that withdrawals usually occur with the use of heavy drugs, such as methamphetamine and fentanyl, the affidavit stated.
The girl allegedly told the trooper that she only smokes marijuana but is around people who do meth and fentanyl.
More than 250 stash houses in El Paso region
This year more than 250 stash houses have been found in the Border Patrol's El Paso Sector, which covers El Paso and all of New Mexico, Texas DPS said.
"Stash houses" can be houses, apartments and motel rooms where smugglers hide undocumented migrants or drugs before transporting them to locations across the United States. The houses are sometimes rentals that are sparsely decorated and lack electricity.
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Border Patrol said that indicators of a possible stash house, include:
Excessive amounts of trash, such as piles of garbage bags, that are much more than the average family.
No activity during the day but a lot of activity at night and at odd hours.
Different vehicles arriving, with several people getting out.
Tips about suspected stash houses can be made to the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at www.p3tips.com/650. Tipsters could be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
The U.S. Border Patrol number to report smuggling activity and stash houses is 1-800-635-2509. Information on human trafficking can also be made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Two El Paso men arrested, girl rescued from suspected stash house
