SAN ANTONIO — Three men were arrested when Bexar County deputies executed search warrants at three west-side properties where human smuggling victims were being held Friday afternoon, Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
Most of the six victims are believed to be Honduran, Salazar said. Their genders and ages are unknown.
"None of them report having been mistreated to any extent or being held against their will," the sheriff added.
A department spokesperson says investigators suspect the victims paid smugglers extra for a more comfortable experience. The stash houses were furnished, Salazar said.
"At least one of them paid upwards of $12,000 to be brought here," Salazar said. "It's almost like a license to print money for these folks and they're capitalizing on the misery of these people."
The three unidentified suspects are 21, 31 and 35 years old, according to Salazar. They have been charged with human smuggling, engaging in organized crime and keeping of a stash house.
The arrests are the result of a weeks-long investigation in which deputies were tracking the suspects' movements. The search warrants were executed at 2903 Hillcrest, 1011 Vance Jackson and 615 Benrus.
Salazar said federal charges are possible down the road.
“We know these cases tie directly back to drug cartels, which are no longer just drug cartels; they’re transnational criminal organizations that concentrate on trafficking of humans but also trafficking of drugs and weapons," he said.
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