AMALIA, NM — Eleven starving and dehydrated children — some as young as 1 — have been rescued from a makeshift compound in Amalia and two Georgia men are in custody, including one who was wanted for abducting a 3-year-old. The Taos County Sheriff’s Office said in a release Saturday that authorities searched the compound, surrounded by tires and an earthen berm in Costilla Meadows subdivision, on Friday. The compound is located near the Colorado border.

Authorities suspected Lucas Morten was staying there with others, including Siraj Wahhaj, 39, who was wanted for allegedly abducting toddler AG Wahhaj. The search stemmed from a two-month investigation in coordination with investigators in Clayton County, Georgia and the FBI. The FBI recently provided information and surveillance on the compound but didn’t feel it had legal justification to search the property.

That abruptly changed when a Georgia investigator sent the sheriff’s office a tip: someone likely at at the compound had sent a message to a third party that simply said they were “starving” and needed “food and water.”

“I absolutely knew that we couldn’t wait on another agency to step up and we had to go check this out as soon as possible, so I began working on a search warrant right after I got that intercepted message – it had to be a search warrant and a tactical approach for our own safety because we had learned the occupants were most likely heavily armed and considered extremist of the Muslim belief,” Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said in the release. “We also knew from the layout of the compound they would have an advantage if we didn’t deploy tactfully and quickly.”

On Friday morning, members of local sheriff’s response unit and the State OSI unit conducted a day-long search of the property. The operation went off without a hitch and no one was hurt, though both men initially refused to comply with verbal orders, authorities said. Wahhaj was held up inside the compound and was “heavily armed” with an AR-15 assault-style rifle, the release said. He also had five loaded 30 round magazines and four loaded pistols, including one in his pocket when he was taken down. Many more rounds of ammunition were also found in the makeshift compound.

A small travel trailer was found buried in the ground covered by plastic with no water, plumbing, or electricity.

“The only food we saw were a few potatoes and a box of rice in the filthy trailer,” said Hogrefe. “But what was most surprising, and heartbreaking was when the team located a total of five adults and 11 children that looked like third-world country refugees not only with no food or fresh water, but with no shoes, personal hygiene and basically dirty rags for clothing.”

Authorities said the missing Georgia child has not been found. Three women, believed to be the children’s mothers, were detained for questioning and released pending the outcome of an investigation.

Morten has been charged with harboring a fugitive and Wahhaj was booked on his no bond Georgia warrant for child abduction.

The l 11 children were immediately taken into protective custody and later turned over to the state Children, Youth and Families division.

“We all gave the kids our water and what snacks we had – it was the saddest living conditions and poverty I have seen,” said Hogrefe.

None of the adults would talk about the whereabouts of AG Wahhaj, authorities said. Investigators suspect he was at the compound as recently as a few weeks ago.

Photos credit: Taos County Sheriff’s Office

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