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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Arrests have been made in the Houston stash house case where 97 illegal immigrants were found. Five people were taken into custody and charged with federal crimes related to the discovery of a stash house used by human traffickers Friday. A criminal complaint was filed on Saturday. All five people charged in this case are illegal immigrants themselves. A Houston Police Department (HPD) SWAT team raided the house Friday after a woman in Dallas called HPD to report that her brother had been kidnapped. Francis Martinez told HPD that she paid smugglers $11,000 in February to bring her brother, Santos Vaquedano, from Honduras to the United States. Thursday Martinez received a call from the human traffickers who instructed her to drive to Houston and meet them at a Walgreens parking lot. She was also told she would have to pay them another $6,300 for her brother’s release. As she drove to Houston, a woman called and put her brother on the phone. Martinez provided HPD with a recording of that phone call. Her brother is heard on the recording asking her repeatedly to “please help me”. A man also called Martinez during her drive to Houston and told her that her brother would be killed if she didn’t pay the additional money.
DOJ: 5 facing federal charges after 97 people found in Houston ‘stash house’ All five suspects are accused of harboring and concealing people for “the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.” Author: Doug Delony Updated: 11:52 AM CDT May 3, 2021 HOUSTON — Five suspects have been charged and arrested after last week’s discovery of a suspected human smuggling operation in a southwest Houston home, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday. Note: the video in this story is a Houston police press conference held the day the home was discovered The justice department said 97 people were found in the home. The criminal complaint charges Marina Garcia-Diaz, 22, of El Salvador; Henry Licona-Larios, 31, of Copan, Honduras; Kevin Licona-Lopez, 25, of Santa Barbara, Honduras; Marco Baca-Perez 30, of Michoacan, Mexico; and Marcelo Garcia-Palacios, 21, of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Niki Wolfe Correspondent OLD WASHINGTON - East Guernsey Local Superintendent Adam Pittis recently told the school board he will be reaching out to staff for their input in response to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's request to help students in the wake of the pandemic. He said the governor has asked for a plan on how the district plans to help students who may have fallen behind for the missed classes and lack of in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. "There's a lot of input we need for a plan that fits our needs," Pittis said. Some of the ideas may include extending the school days, starting the school year earlier in the fall and more tutors.