61 illegal immigrants detained in South L.A., officials say
Immigration agents find 'a scene of squalor' while investigating a smuggling ring.
By Anna Gorman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:49 PM PDT, May 14, 2008

More than 60 illegal immigrants, including three toddlers, were discovered at a house in South Los Angeles early this morning by federal immigration agents serving a search warrant as part of an investigation into a human smuggling ring, authorities said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the single-family, two-story home in the 10000 block of South Normandie Avenue about 6:30 a.m.. and found 61 Central and South American immigrants crowded into the house, with trash and rotting food piled 2 to 3 feet high in each room, agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. The immigrants told agents that they had been staying in the home since Friday.

"It was essentially a scene of squalor," Kice said.

The immigrants were transported to downtown Los Angeles for processing and interviews. It wasn't clear whether any of those discovered were complicit in the smuggling operation.

The immigrants were from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ecuador. There were six minors -- three teenagers and three toddlers -- among the group. Immigration and Customs was working with the consulates of those countries in an attempt to keep the young children with their mothers, Kice said.

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