16 immigrants found inside small business (Arizona Republic)

16 immigrants found inside small business

by Megan Boehnke - Feb. 17, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Authorities rescued 16 immigrants who were being held against their will inside a rundown warehouse at a small woodworking business in Phoenix, where three workers were making cabinets as police arrived Monday morning.

Officers are accustomed to responding to drophouses, but it is unusual to find smuggling victims inside a business, said Harold Sanders, a spokesman with the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

He pointed to the employees and customers who might witness the crimes in a business setting. But he added that he was not surprised. "These guys are creative," Sanders said. "The challenge is uncovering it."

Police arrived around 9:30 a.m. and arrested three suspects whose connections to the business are unclear. The three workers also were apprehended, but later released after investigators determined they had no role in the smuggling scheme.

Investigators believe the three suspects were holding the illegal immigrants against their will, threatening them physically and demanding about $2,800 from each of them, Sanders said.

The victims, two women, 13 men and one teenage boy believed to be about 15 or 16, were held in office space inside the workshop, where they were allowed to make phone calls to relatives soliciting ransom money while the suspects watched.

One victim told police he thought he had been held inside the business for 10 to 12 days.

Sanders did not know their country of origin, but said they appeared to have arrived in separate groups and paid about $1,600 each to reach the drop point in Phoenix.

Police turned the victims over to Immigration Customs Enforcement.

Phoenix police received the tip Monday morning and went to Espana Custom Cabinets, at 3536 W. Osborn Road, just west of 35th Avenue, to investigate. They knocked on the door and announced their presence when they heard suspects trying to move through the wall into an adjacent business, Sanders said.

Police quickly apprehended one suspect and two others were chased down by police K-9s and then transported to the hospital to be treated for the animal bites, Sanders said.

Detectives from the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Co-op Team, made up of officers from DPS, ICE and Phoenix police, are investigating the business and are trying to contact the owner, who was not on site Monday morning. It's unclear whether the business owner or managers had knowledge of the scheme.

The suspects face human smuggling, kidnapping and extortion charges, though more felonies could be added, Sanders said.