2 drop houses raided, 30 in custody
by Matt Culbertson - Jun. 13, 2008 12:33 PM
The Arizona Republic
Authorities raided a Phoenix drop house Thursday night, finding 11 undocumented immigrants and arresting four human smugglers.

A second drop house raid also was conducted Friday, resulting in another 15 detainees.

On Thursday, acting on a tip, a task force known as the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Apprehension Co-op Team, or IIMPACT, investigated a possible drop house near West Indian School Road and North 51st Avenue. The task force entered the house Thursday evening, police said.

IIMPACT consists of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Phoenix police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Authorities were tipped off by the wife of one of the undocumented immigrants, who talked to officials because she feared for her husband's safety.

She told officials her husband had paid $1,500 to a human smuggling organization to be taken into the United States illegally, Phoenix Det. Reuben Gonzales said.

But when the smugglers took the man to the United States, they instead traded him to another organization, which threatened to kill him if he did not pay an additional $3,500 for his release, Gonzales said.

During the raid, no one was injured and no shots were fired, though officers found weapons inside the house including a shotgun and handgun, Gonzales said.

The 11 undocumented immigrants did not appear to be injured, but their shoes had been confiscated to keep them from escaping, and the house had been fortified, with bolted windows and locked doors to bar them from leaving.

Authorities arrested the four smugglers on counts of kidnapping, extortion and misconduct involving weapons. ICE took custody of the 11 undocumented immigrants to process them and return them to Mexico.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... house.html