Reach Gonzalez
Over 100 migrants found in N. Valley
Thu Feb 12 18:30:51 2004
64.140.158.83


Over 100 migrants found in N. Valley
Law enforcement officials apprehended 156 undocumented immigrants on Wednesday who were being held by armed smugglers in a rented house in north Phoenix, the most ever found in a single location locally. But what surprised Phoenix police and neighbors most was the location of the house - an affluent neighborhood next to a golf course next to the Scottsdale border.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/

Over 100 migrants found in N. Valley
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0212drophouse12.html

Conditions filthy in rental house

Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 12, 2004 12:00 AM

Law enforcement officials Wednesday apprehended 156 undocumented immigrants who were being held by armed smugglers in a rented house in north Phoenix in filthy conditions without food or water.

A federal immigration official said he believes it was the highest number of people ever discovered in one location in the Phoenix area, which in recent years has become the nation's main transportation hub for illegal immigration.

But what surprised Phoenix police and neighbors most was that the house sits in the 5600 block of East Shea Boulevard, in a neighborhood on the edge of a golf course near the Scottsdale border.

"We would have never expected it in this neighborhood," said Nicholas Zendelbach, who lives next door to where the undocumented immigrants were found. The median home price in the area is $450,000.

Until recently, the majority of so-called "drop houses" used by smugglers to warehouse undocumented immigrants as part of the booming illegal immigration trade that flows through Phoenix have been found largely in low-income neighborhoods in south and west Phoenix.

But increasingly, law enforcement officials say, they are finding undocumented immigrants being kept against their will in newer and more affluent neighborhoods in the city and suburbs.

"You can no longer say that finding these groups in new or upscale neighborhoods is unusual. Not anymore," said Russell Ahr, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement in Phoenix.

Last month, Ahr said, a group of undocumented immigrants were found held in a house in a new subdivision between Lower Buckeye and Broadway roads in a rural area of southwest Phoenix.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said Wednesday's discovery underscores the need for federal immigration reform, pointing out that although police can stop criminal activity, they can do little to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants into the city.

"It's a mandate that affects all of us," Gordon said. "We need an immigration policy that works. We need to secure our borders. The federal government has to do something about these issues."

Phoenix police had been monitoring the drop house on Shea Boulevard since Zendelbach and his wife, Antoinette, called police after seeing three, white 10-passenger vans pull into the property one night two weeks ago.

Maricopa County property records list the owner of the house as Russell G. Young. He could not be reached for comment.

On Wednesday morning, police followed two vans that left the property loaded with passengers. They pulled one van over on Arizona 51 near Northern Avenue and the second vehicle near Glendale Avenue and 18th Street. A total of 31 undocumented immigrants were discovered inside the two vehicles, according to law enforcement officials.

When officials entered the house, they found 125 more undocumented immigrants inside, including four or five suspected smugglers, Ahr said.

Several immigrants climbed out a bedroom window and tried to run away but were caught by police, Phoenix police Sgt. David Lundberg said. Among the immigrants were several young children, Ahr said.

He said the immigrants are believed to be from Mexico and Central America and were being detained at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters on Central Avenue near downtown Phoenix. The immigrants will be returned home and the suspect smugglers held for prosecution, officials said.

The migrants had been living and sleeping on the floor in the rented four-bedroom house with no furniture and backed-up toilets overflowing with human feces, Ahr said.

A backed-up drain in the back yard overflowed with human waste, Lundberg said.

Several of the migrants told federal investigators they hadn't eaten in three days, Ahr said.

Investigators also discovered two weapons in a back bedroom of the house, an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, Ahr said. Smugglers typically use guns to prevent immigrants from escaping without paying smuggling fees and to protect themselves from being robbed by gangs that try to steal immigrants from smugglers.

Ahr said he believes the total of 156 undocumented immigrants discovered Wednesday exceeds the previous record of 150 undocumented immigrants from Central America found in a Phoenix drop house in the late 1990s.

Staff reporter Ginger Richardson contributed to this article.

Reach Gonzalez at (602) 444-8312 or at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com

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