Eagle Pass stash house operator investigated by Homeland Security Task Force, sentenced to 18 years in federal prison

Date: June 12, 2026

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Del Rio, TX - An Eagle Pass man was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 225 months in prison for his leadership role as an illegal alien stash house operator, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents, Edgar Alejandro Elizondo aka "Flaco" was a stash house operator and leader/organizer for a large-scale illegal alien smuggling organization (ASO). A Homeland Security Task Force investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations revealed that Elizondo operated several stash houses in Eagle Pass that fed the organization's transportation cell, to include tractor-trailer transporting events. In at least one event, Elizondo was personally involved in holding illegal aliens at gun point.

Additionally, Elizondo was involved in an aggravated hostage-taking event in Houston, whereby the members of the ASO engaged in a daytime shootout in an effort to recover illegal aliens that had been stolen from a stash house operated by Elizondo.

On April 23, 2025, Elizondo was named in an eight-count superseding indictment. He was arrested on July 25, 2025, and has remained in custody since. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens placing lives in jeopardy on Dec. 22, 2025. Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses presides over the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF comprises agents and officers from FBI; ICE HSI; DEA; ATF; U.S. Border Patrol; USMS; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Transportation; IRS Criminal Investigation; Texas Department of Public Safety; as well as local police departments and sheriff's offices, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.