Smugglers exploit downturn in housing market

Monday, January 7, 2008

The Associated Press

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Unable to sell his house in suburban Phoenix’s anemic real estate market, Jason Winterholler rented to a couple who paid the deposit in cash and didn’t haggle over price.

It was a deal he came to regret.

The renters were fronts for immigrant smugglers who used the house as a hiding place for illegal immigrants and trashed the home. In October, a SWAT team drove an armored personnel carrier onto the lawn and raided the house, rounding up nearly two dozen people.

“That was the biggest disappointment. I definitely felt violated,â€