HOUSTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor says an Honduran man has been charged with harboring after he was found keeping watch of more than two dozen people who authorities say were being held in a Houston home as part of a human smuggling operation.
Houston police say the smuggling operation was discovered Thursday evening after one of the men who was being kept inside the home escaped and was seen running down a residential street in his underwear.
People are handcuffed together in pairs and loaded into vans as police investigate a possible human smuggling operation, Thursday night, Dec. 4, 2020, in Houston. About 30 people were taken to the gymnasium of nearby a elementary school and were eventually transported away. Investigators say the victims came from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
People are handcuffed together in pairs and loaded into vans as police investigate a possible human smuggling operation, Thursday night, Dec. 4, 2020, in Houston. About 30 people were taken to the gymnasium of nearby a elementary school and were eventually transported away. Investigators say the victims came from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
People are handcuffed together in pairs and loaded into vans as police investigate a possible human smuggling operation, Thursday night, Dec. 4, 2020, in Houston. About 30 people were taken to the gymnasium of nearby a elementary school and were eventually transported away. Investigators say the victims came from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Law enforcement look over a vehicle at a home where they were investigating a possible human smuggling operation, Thursday night, Dec. 4, 2020, in Houston. About 30 people were taken to the gymnasium of nearby a elementary school and were eventually transported away. Investigators say the victims came from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Law enforcement gather near a home where they were investigating a possible human smuggling operation, Thursday night, Dec. 4, 2020, in Houston. About 30 people were taken to the gymnasium of nearby a elementary school and were eventually transported away. Investigators say the victims came from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Authorities determined 28 men and one woman who had illegally immigrated to the U.S. were being kept in the home.
Authorities allege Mauro Dominguez-Maldonado was in charge of watching the immigrants. He is to appear in federal court on Monday.
