What started as routine Border Patrol surveillance around El Paso’s ports of entry turned into a full-blown stash house takedown this week, federal prosecutors say. After watching vehicles and people repeatedly cycle between the border crossings and a local residence where migrants were allegedly being held, agents moved in. Prosecutors have now filed migrant-smuggling and illegal re-entry charges tied to what they describe as an ongoing stash house operation.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, U.S. citizen Bryan Fernando Guillen was charged with alien smuggling after agents say he dropped off an undocumented person at the stash house. Investigators allege that a Mercedes-Benz Guillen was driving refused to yield to Border Patrol, then turned up abandoned at the Ysleta Port of Entry. Guillen was later arrested, prosecutors say, when he tried to run into Mexico through the Paso Del Norte port of entry’s southbound vehicle lanes. The complaint further alleges that Guillen knew about 12 migrants inside the residence and had worked with co-conspirators in the operation for about seven months.
The investigation also netted the arrests of Bryan Adrian Flores-Martinez and Hector Emigdio Navarro-Olivas, who were taken into custody when they sought admission at the Paso Del Norte port of entry, as reported by KTSM 9 News. Border Patrol agents say they watched a red pickup shuttle between a residence on West Paisano Drive and an area near Asarco, where fresh muddy footprints were later found. According to investigators, the truck returned to the home and dropped off six migrants before leaving again. Flores-Martinez and Navarro-Olivas were allegedly seen going back to the house with grocery bags, then later attempting to re-enter the United States.
Charges and what's next
Federal filings allege that Guillen faces a migrant-smuggling charge, while other individuals linked to the investigation are facing illegal re-entry and related immigration counts. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Salvadoran national David Antonio Lazo-Alvarenga was found on May 2 in a field about six miles east of the Tornillo port of entry and has prior deportations and multiple DWI convictions noted in court records. Indictments and complaints are only accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Stash houses and border enforcement
Stash houses remain a stubborn feature of smuggling along the Southwest border, serving as temporary holding sites before migrants are moved deeper into the country. Local reporting and prior coverage note that Border Patrol has identified hundreds of stash house locations in the El Paso sector in recent years, a scale that helps explain why federal task forces so frequently coordinate raids and prosecutions, per Border Feds Bust El Paso Stash House.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says this latest case is being handled as part of a broader enforcement push, and the investigation is still active as agents develop leads and prepare additional filings. Officials have directed media questions to the office’s media line while the probe continues.
