DROP HOUSES

As it is only 180 miles away from the border, Phoenix is an ideal location for smuggling illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, human trafficking can be a profitable business. According to the Law Enforcement Association, human smuggling has made Phoenix the "kidnapping capital of the United States".¹ Referred to as "Coyotes", or "Polleros", these criminal smugglers often charge families from $1,000 to $10,000 or more for smuggling illegal immigrants into the country. And, as border enforcement efforts have increased, this cost has gone up.

In many instances, just when these illegal immigrants think they are safely in their target city, the "coyotes" change the rules and demand additional money. Alone, in a strange country, these aliens are at their mercy and when they cannot pay they find they have become victims of a kidnap and extortion plot.

Coyotes hide their illegal cargo in "drop houses" and hold them against their will until their fee is paid. They often instill fear in their captives by using violence and abuse. Immigrants are crammed into dark rooms with boarded windows under inhumane conditions. Basic necessities like working toilets, meals and air conditioning are scarce in these awful settings.

Coyotes will contact relatives in the home country or others who have already made the trip and demand additional funds for the safe release of what are now prisoners in the drop house. They may allow one relative to go free with instructions to raise the money and return within a certain time frame. And the kidnappers prefer to retain the most vulnerable and the easiest to control, the women and children. Their "guides" have become guards, armed and willing to use force if necessary...One captive of an Arizona drop house says she lost her unborn baby as a result of a beating by her captor.

I.C.E Detective Armando Garcia describes what it is like to raid a drop house, "Conditions are appalling. They are stripped down to their underwear, usually to keep them from running away or because of the heat. There is usually 1 restroom for 20-80 people. The worst part of it for me is seeing when there's kids in there."

According to I.C.E. officials, in 2007, 163 drop houses were discovered in Phoenix with 3,106 immigrants taken into custody. In August 2007, the County Attorney's office and the Sheriff's office began a joint initiative to crack down on drop houses. These drop houses can occur in any neighborhood. However, the majority go undetected until a released immigrant or neighbor report them. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office advises there are several signs of drop houses that citizens in all neighborhoods across the Valley should be aware of...

• Minimum to no activity during the day and large groups of people coming and going, especially during night time hours
• Vehicles with out-of-state license plates coming and going
• Heavy traffic through the garage (U-Haul type vehicles pulling into the garage and closing it before unloading)
• Trash not being taken out (to avoid signs of activity)
• Large piles of day to day trash in the back yards
• Strong/foul body odor coming from the house
• Boarded up window/sliding glass doors
• Pad locks and chains on doors out of view from the streets
• Gunfire, especially what sounds like machine-gun fire

County Attorney Andrew Thomas stated, "These drop houses are centers of criminal activity that directly threaten our neighborhoods. The violence that goes on inside these homes is also an outrage. Just because victims are here illegally does not excuse the abuse they suffer at the hands of human smugglers. It's made worse by the fact that the violence has the potential of moving into the surrounding neighborhoods, whose residents often have no idea that armed and dangerous coyotes are next door."

To report a drop house in your neighborhood, call your local police department or the Sheriff's office's 24-hour illegal immigration hotline at (602) 876-4154, the Department of Homeland Security I.C.E. tip line at (866) 347-2423 or CrimeStop at (602) 262-6151. If it is an emergency, however, always call 911.

For more information on the effects of illegal immigration on our communities,
click here.

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