Sixteen immigrants found at west Phoenix drophouse

[71ragtopgoat 23]

Sixteen suspected illegal immigrants who

had been held by armed men were

discovered Wednesday at a drophouse in

Phoenix, including a 15-year-old boy, a

Department Public Service official said.

 

A coalition of agencies called IIMPACT, which

includes the DPS, Phoenix police and federal

immigration officials, began investigating

the home following a tip of a possible

drophouse near 79th Avenue and

Camelback Road, said Bart Graves, a media

relations coordinator for the Department of

Public Safety.

 

Authorities served a search warrant at the

home about 1 p.m. Wednesday. When

authorities arrived, five men and a woman

who were believed to have held the

immigrants scattered, Graves said.

 

It took authorities about 20 minutes to find

all the suspects and clear the area, but they

were all eventually located and arrested on

suspicion of human smuggling.

 

The victims

[jermz1987 243]

There seems to be an illegal immigrant thread popping up here every few hours.