Thread: 11 migrants held for ransom rescued in Phoenix

Oct 8, 5:25 PM EDT

11 migrants held for ransom rescued in Phoenix

PHOENIX (AP) -- Agents with an illegal immigration task force say they've rescued 11 migrants being held for ransom in a Phoenix drop house.

A statement from the multi-agency team led by the state Department of Public Safety says they were called on Sunday by a family member who told them human smugglers were demanding a $5,000 ransom payment to release his brother and sister-in-law.

Detectives located a drop house in northwest Phoenix and arrested the main suspect and his girlfriend as they drove away on Monday night. They then served a search warrant and found the captive migrants and four suspected smugglers who were holding them captive.

The 11 illegal immigrants told detectives they were pistol-whipped and beaten because their family members couldn't pay their ransom

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Keep your corruption on your side of the border.......

October 8, 2008 - 7:24PM
17 found in raid of drop house
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Katie McDevitt, Tribune
A state police task force raided a Phoenix house Monday and found 11 illegal immigrants and six suspected human smugglers.

The task force, which targets illegal immigration, first learned of the house Sunday when a caller told detectives that a couple were being held against their will.

Monday, detectives began watching the house in the 9000 block of North 36th Drive. Police said they made a traffic stop on a vehicle that left the house and discovered the man who was running the drop house.

That night, an Arizona Department of Public Safety Special Operations Unit searched the house and found the missing couple and nine other illegal migrants and several other possible smugglers. Police also found a handgun.

In interviews, the illegal immigrants told police that they were held against their will and some were beaten, kicked and struck with pistols because their family members couldn't come up with ransom money.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement took custody
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/127662