Thread: Az - DPS: Illegal Immigrants Found in Business

DPS: Illegal Immigrants Found in Business

POSTED: 2:54 pm MST February 16, 2009
UPDATED: 4:39 pm MST February 16, 2009


PHOENIX -- Sixteen suspected illegal immigrants were found in a Phoenix business being used as a drop house after police received an anonymous tip.

Phoenix police said the illegal immigrants were being held against their will in Espana Custom Cabinets, an active woodworking business in a small warehouse on Osborn Avenue.

While Phoenix police searched the business, three smugglers tried to escape, said Harold Sanders of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. They were caught when canine units were deployed.

Detectives said the group of immigrants paid $1,600 to be brought into the U.S. and the smugglers were threatening violence against the immigrants unless they provided another $2,800.

Two of the smugglers are currently hospitalized and the third is being interviewed, Sanders said.

They will be charged with smuggling, extortion, kidnapping and other possible felony charges.

The investigation was conducted by detectives from the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Co-op Team.


http://www.kpho.com/news/18726169/detail.html

DPS: Illegal immigrants held against their will at Valley business

More Phoenix Local News

06:26 PM Mountain Standard Time on Monday, February 16, 2009

By The Associated Press

azfamily.com

PHOTOS: Scene http://www.azfamily.com/perl/common/sli ... family.com
VIDEO: Looking for owners Video at the source link:
RAW: Aerials

PHOENIX - The following is a press release from the Department of Public Safety:

Police looking for business owners

Detectives from the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Co-op Team (IIMPAACT) are currently conducting an investigation at 3536 West Osborn Avenue, Suite #8, in Phoenix. This location is a business district and the specific address is for Espana Custom Cabinets.

IIMPACT Detectives began this investigation earlier this morning when they received information from Phoenix Police Department that their patrol officers had uncovered several individuals being held against their will at Espana Custom Cabinets.

Phoenix PD initially received an anonymous tip that undocumented aliens were being held the business. Phoenix PD personnel conducted an entry at the location and while the officers were in the process of checking the business, three suspects (coyotes) attempted to flee from the business. Canine units were deployed, and they initially located two of the suspects hiding in another section of the building complex and the third was caught immediately close by after the first two were taken into custody.

There were three employees at the business that are currently being questioned by Detectives and 16 individuals currently being identified as undocumented aliens (UDA's)that are being detained. The group paid about $1,600 to be brought into the U.S. and upon reaching the Osborn business address, they were held against their will with threats of violence if they did not provide approximately another $2,800 for their release. The group was threatened as they made phone calls to family members to obtain the additional money.

Espana Custom Cabinets is an active woodworking business contained within a small warehouse. There is a second story within the warehouse structure like an office area where the UDA's were being held.

Two of the three suspects are at a Valley area hospital and the third is being interviewed. They will be charged with human smuggling, extortion, kidnapping and possibly other felony charges.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stor ... dedd3.html

This was from the other post!

Police quickly apprehended one suspect and two others were chased down by police K-9s and then transported to the hospital to be treated for the animal bites, Sanders said.

running from K-9's not too smart!! I always thought dogs were understood in any language

Compliments of JohnDoe2 from another thread:

16 immigrants found inside small business

by Megan Boehnke -
Feb. 16, 2009 05:28 PM
The Arizona Republic

Police rescued 16 immigrants who were being held against their will inside a small woodworking business in a rundown Phoenix warehouse, where three workers were making cabinets as police arrived on Monday morning.

Officers are used to responding to drop houses, but it is unusual to find smuggling victims inside a business, Harold Sanders, a spokesman with the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

He pointed to the employees and customers, who might witness the crimes in a business setting. But he added that was not surprised.

"These guys are creative," Sanders said. "The challenge is uncovering it."

Police arrived around 9:30 a.m. and arrested three suspects whose connections to the business are unclear. The three workers also were apprehended, but later released after investigators determined they had no role in the smuggling scheme.

Investigators believe the three suspects were holding the illegal immigrants against their will, threatening them physically and demanding about $2,800 from each of them, Sanders said.

The victims - two women, 13 men and one teenage boy believed to be about 15 or 16 - were held in office space inside the workshop, where they were allowed to make phone calls to relatives soliciting ransom while the suspects watched them.

One victim told police he thought he had been held inside the business for 10 to 12 days.

Sanders did not know their country of origin, but said they appeared to have arrived in separate groups and paid about $1,600 each to make it to this drop point.

Police turned the victims over to Immigration Customs Enforcement.

Phoenix police received the tip Monday morning and went to Espana Custom Cabinets, at 3536 Osborn Road, just west of 35th Avenue, to investigate. They knocked on the door and announced their presence when they heard suspects trying to move through the wall into an adjacent business, Sanders said.

Police quickly apprehended one suspect and two others were chased down by police K-9s and then transported to the hospital to be treated for the animal bites, Sanders said.

Detectives from the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Co-op Team made up of officers from DPS, ICE and Phoenix Police are investigating the business and are trying to contact the owner, who was not on site Monday morning. It's unclear whether the business owner or managers had knowledge of the scheme.

The suspects are currently looking at human smuggling, kidnapping and extortion charges, though more felonies could be added, Sanders said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 17-ON.html