Traffic stop leads to drophouse, extortion case
JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 5, 2008 03:00 PM

What started as a simple traffic stop Tuesday night turned into a drophouse bust in the West Valley on Wednesday afternoon.

Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies pulled over a late-model minivan for swerving about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on Arizona 93 near Wickenburg.

After speaking with the passengers, the deputies realized four of the six people in the car had just been released from a drophouse near 112th and Campbell avenues, but another person in their party remained in the house, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.

The group had already paid smugglers $10,000 to free the first four hostages, but the passengers were increasingly concerned because they didn't have the remaining $2,500 to free their friend, Arpaio said.

Undercover deputies returned to the house on Wednesday posing as family members and got a pair of smugglers to bring the hostage out.

Deputies arrested those two smugglers and discovered another inside with at least 14 other hostages, Arpaio said.

Everyone in the SUV was in the country illegally, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be deported, Arpaio said.

Deputies are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to process all the hostages.

Some will likely face charges as co-conspirators under the state's human-smuggling law, Arpaio said, but those that witnessed more serious crimes could remain in the country to help prosecute the smugglers.

"They're not automatically deported," Arpaio said. "It depends on if we need them to be witnesses or extortion cases."

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