By Julian Gill
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — Police on Thursday night rescued 26 people from a home used for a human smuggling operation in southwest Houston, according to authorities.
The people, including 25 men and one woman, were taken to the nearby Ridgemont Elementary School gym to get out of the cold, police said. It’s unclear whether any of them were injured.
Police initially responded around 6 p.m. to a home in the 4800 block of Raven Ridge Drive. Officers received a report of a man running down the street in his underwear, yelling that he had been kidnapped. The man said 30 more people were being held in the home.
The caller said he was kidnapped in Houston by a person armed with a revolver. One person has been detained at the scene.
Emergency vehicles swarmed the intersection near the home, which was located about 300 feet from the elementary school. Around 11 p.m., the people found in the home were handcuffed and driven away in unmarked vans.
Houston police are cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security.
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