Phoenix police: 11 kids rescued from drophouse UPDATE

Phoenix police: 11 kids rescued from drophouse

by Brennan Smith - Dec. 3, 2010 09:16 AM
The Arizona Republic

Phoenix police rescued 11 children ranging in age from 2 to 15 following the raid of a Phoenix drophouse on Thursday.

Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Steve Martos said the FBI received a tip from the mother of three of the girls held captive in the drophouse, saying they had been kidnapped from their home in El Salvador.

The woman said she was threatened that if she did not send money to the human smugglers, they would sexually assault her children, who are 12, 14 and 15, Martos said.

Police found the drophouse near South Seventh and West St. Anne avenues and discovered the three girls inside, along with eight other children who were reportedly smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia. Martos said all of the children had been smuggled into the U.S. without their parents.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man inside the home, who reportedly claimed he was also smuggled into the U.S. and was working off his debt to the smugglers by guarding the children. Another man in his 40s and a woman, 40, were arrested outside of the home while attempting to drive away, Martos said.

It is currently unknown if any of the children were sexually assaulted or hurt.

Check back for more updates.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... z174eFSG2z

I recently had surgery and am still on oxycodone and I am not understanding this?

They were "Kidnapped in their home country of el salvador and now in Phoenix the "Smugglers" are demanding money?

Are they trying for a victims visa or are these "Dreamers"

I did a search and there's nothing new on this and the story is so buried that it hasn't made any national news yet.

I.C.E.: 2 charged in case of Phoenix drop house where 9 children were found

Posted: 12:31 PM
By: ABC15.com staff

PHOENIX - Authorities have released additional information in Thursday’s case of children found at a south Phoenix drop house.

Vincent Picard with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 44-year-old Jaime Cruz-Gutierrez and 41-year-old Olga Marinos Fuentes have been identified and charged.

Picard said a total of nine children were found ranging from ages three to 17, while initial reports Thursday said there were 11 children found.

The remaining individuals in this case, including the children, were turned over to I.C.E. for disposition, Picard said.

Cruz-Gutierrez and Fuentes are both charged with kidnapping for ransom, smuggling humans for profit, and theft by extortion, according to Picard.

Out of the nine children found in the home, six girls and one boy were Salvadorian and one boy was Mexican, Picard said.

Three Salvadorian sisters were released to their mother, he said.

Picard said authorities are still trying to identify a three-year-old boy who is currently in Child Protective Services custody.

Phoenix police Sgt. Steve Martos said an investigation into the alleged drop house began after a woman from El Salvador reported to the FBI that her three daughters had been kidnapped and were being held in the Valley.

According to Martos, it was later discovered that the girls' family paid smugglers to bring the children into the country.

The "coyotes" reportedly tried to extort more money from the family, even threatening to sexually assault the girls if their payment demands were not met.

FBI officials began working with the Phoenix Police Department to investigate the claim, which led to the discovery of a drop house near 7th and Southern avenues.

Martos said the Special Assignments Unit entered the home around 6 p.m. Thursday and were able to locate the three girls.

Martos said detectives found one suspect inside the home acting as guard.

The man reportedly told investigators he had also been smuggled into the country by "coyotes" and was paying off his debt by guarding the house.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_ph ... were-found

National Media

10 children rescued from smugglers in Phoenix

Updated 10m ago

PHOENIX (AP) — Ten children have been rescued from human smugglers who threatened to rape and kill some of them if their parents didn't pay more money for their entry into the U.S., authorities said Friday.

The children, from 2 to 17 years old, were smuggled from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, and were being held against their will at a drop house in Phoenix, authorities said. Only one of them was being brought into the country with a parent.

The smugglers threatened to rape and kill three El Salvadoran sisters ages 12, 14 and 16 if their mother didn't pay them $10,000, Arizona Department of Public Safety Capt. Fred Zumbo said.

The girls' mother, who is living legally in the U.S. in the San Francisco area, called the FBI for help, and Phoenix police and other agencies took over from there. Police found the home where the girls were being held, and found them and the other children when a SWAT team raided it Thursday night.

None of the children appeared to have been harmed, and they had been fed and given water, Zumbo said.

"They seemed in fairly good condition considering what they went through," said Zumbo, who leads DPS' Illegal Immigration Prevention & Apprehension Co-op Team. "Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't rescued them, especially if the mother couldn't come up with the money."

Zumbo said it's unusual to find so many children in one drop house unaccompanied by a family member.

Two people were arrested on smuggling, kidnapping and extortion charges. They were identified as Jaime Cruz Gutierrez, 44, and Olga Marino Fuentes, 41, who were both in the country illegally from Mexico.

DPS officials said more than $9,600 in cash was seized from the drop house along with 4,000 pesos ($324), a vehicle and a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Zumbo said his agency was working to find out who else was involved in the smuggling of the children, in an effort to dismantle the operation.

The three El Salvadoran sisters were turned over to their mother in California as they await immigration hearings so a judge can decide whether they must return to their home country or can stay in the U.S.

A 15-year-old Mexican girl was returned to her home country with her mother, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was working to confirm whether a woman who contacted them is the mother of a 2-year-old Guatemalan girl found in the home.

ICE spokesman Vincent Picard said the agency was working to identify the parents of the five other children: three other girls from El Salvador and two boys from Mexico. The girls are 7, 14 and 17, and the boys are 6 and 17.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/201 ... ouse_N.htm

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saying they had been kidnapped from their home in El Salvador

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Oh please. :roll:

She had them smuggled in. I'm not buying that for one minute. Why would they bring them to Phoenix from El Salvador, if ransom was the motivation?

Dixie

I knew this was phony when I first read it - the parents wanted these children smuggled into the states but did not pay the price.

Why were the 3 girls released to this mother? Obviously, she must be illegal if her children were in El Salvador, and she just got them here for free. Now the taxpayers will be paying their schooling, medical care, and many other things as well.

The girls should have been returned to their homeland and the mom arrested. I am sick of rewarding these low life lawbreakers who always manage to come out on top.

This will start a new era of document fraud. School records!!!

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The smugglers threatened to rape and kill three El Salvadoran sisters ages 12, 14 and 16 if their mother didn't pay them $10,000, Arizona Department of Public Safety Capt. Fred Zumbo said.

The girls' mother, who is living legally in the U.S. in the San Francisco area

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First of all the smugglers were probably demanding $10,000 above what she had already paid.

Second I'd like an explanation as to how this woman is living legally in the U.S.

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Originally Posted by Ratbstard

Second I'd like an explanation as to how this woman is living legally in the U.S.

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Some people from El Salvador get green cards, but many more are here "temporarily" as refugees (who are never required to leave). They should all have been ordered to leave years ago but as long as the U.S. doesn't order them to leave they are here legally.

Salvador Helps Refugees Filing for Asylum in U.S. -
New York Times
Oct 27, 1995 ... With a mandate from El Salvador's President, Armando Calderon Sol, ... out to almost 200,000 political refugees living in the United States ...
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/27/nyreg ... in-us.html

[PDF]
Conditions Creating Refugees and U.S. Asylum Seekers ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
refugees from El Salvador,. Nicaragua, and Guatemala were registered .... in El Salvador provide the United States and others a critical opportunity ...
http://archive.gao.gov/d48t13/138467.pdf

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Originally Posted by Ratbstard

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The smugglers threatened to rape and kill three El Salvadoran sisters ages 12, 14 and 16 if their mother didn't pay them $10,000, Arizona Department of Public Safety Capt. Fred Zumbo said.

The girls' mother, who is living legally in the U.S. in the San Francisco area

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First of all the smugglers were probably demanding $10,000 above what she had already paid.

Second I'd like an explanation as to how this woman is living legally in the U.S.

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The actions of this mother living "legally" (by whatever method she possesses) in San Francisco supports my argument that many LEGAL Hispanics in this country are contributing, supporting, manipulating and definitely participating in criminal behavior to circumvent U.S. law.

I don't buy this story at all :twisted: