Drophouse busts declining in Phoenix; trend unclear (The Arizona Republic)

Drophouse busts declining in Phoenix; trend unclear

by Daniel González - Sept. 14, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Police have discovered fewer drophouses harboring illegal immigrants this year in metropolitan Phoenix, and authorities say they are also finding far fewer people stashed inside than in the past.

Local authorities have reported 144 drophouses to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials so far this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, compared with the 186 discovered in fiscal 2008.

And instead of 50 or 60 illegal immigrants crammed inside a drophouse, police are finding only 15 or 20 people.

But law-enforcement officials are hesitant to say those numbers point to a decrease in smuggling activity. The officials say there are other factors to consider, such as fewer illegal immigrants crossing the border in Arizona and increasingly sophisticated smuggling organizations.

In recent years, Phoenix has gained the dubious distinction of being the human-smuggling capital of the nation. Smugglers, known as coyotes, frequently hold illegal immigrants inside rented houses like cattle before transporting them from the border region to other parts of the country. Some also beat and torture immigrants to extort extra smuggling fees.

In response, local, state and federal authorities have launched a crackdown, raiding scores of drophouses and prosecuting hundreds of smugglers.

Authorities are encouraged by the decline in the number of drophouses and harbored immigrants, which they say also could be a sign that fewer people are crossing the U.S.-Mexican border illegally, a result of tighter border security and a recession that has dried up jobs.

Border Patrol arrests, one measure of migrant traffic, have decreased significantly in Arizona: They are down 24 percent in the Tucson sector and 18 percent in the Yuma sector. The two sectors, which cover all of Arizona and a portion of California, are among the nine Border Patrol regions on the southwest border.

On Aug. 27, police raided a drophouse on Jefferson Avenue in west Phoenix and found 12 illegal immigrants. The raid was carried out by the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Apprehension Co-op Team, or IIMPACT. The joint task force, run by the Arizona Department of Public Safety with assistance from Phoenix police and ICE, is aimed at combating violent smuggling organizations.

The immigrants told investigators they had been held captive for several days by three smugglers who beat them with closet rods and boards, said Robert Bailey, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

The smugglers had boarded up the windows to prevent escapes.

A neighbor, who didn't want to give his name, said he had no idea the house was being used to harbor illegal immigrants. The only activity he ever saw, he said, was two men who came outside to water plants every other day.

The Jefferson Avenue drophouse shows how smugglers are getting more sophisticated, which may help explain why police are finding fewer drophouses with fewer migrants inside, said Matthew Allen, the special agent in charge of ICE's office of investigation in Arizona.

Smugglers are trying to limit their losses should police raid their drophouses, Allen said.

They also may be trying to protect their "loads" from kidnapping gangs, known as bajadores. The bajadores kidnap loads of illegal immigrants from smugglers to hold them for ransom, a common crime in the Phoenix area.

Smugglers also seem to be taking extra precautions to keep the locations of drophouses secret and to avoid drawing attention from suspicious neighbors, which is how police find many drophouses.

Illegal immigrants have told investigators that smugglers blindfolded them or ordered them to put their heads down as they were driven to drophouses, making it difficult for an immigrant who might escape to tell police where he had been held.

Smugglers also often take clothes, shoes and socks, leaving migrants only their underwear, to deter escapes. In addition, smugglers seal windows shut with plywood, sometimes even covering windows first with drapes to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

And police have found smugglers who watered plants, kept lawns trimmed and didn't let trash bags pile up outside.

"The smugglers are getting more clever," said Lt. Joe Sousa, head of the human-smuggling unit of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. "Last Christmas, we (raided) a house where coyotes put up Christmas decorations just to blend in with the neighborhood."

Sousa believes there are still plenty of drophouses, based on the number of smuggling vehicles loaded with illegal immigrants his unit finds on highways leading out of Phoenix. His unit raided about 20 drophouses in 2008 and another 20 or so this year.

"It seems like every time we go out to look for load vehicles, we find them," he said. "They have to be coming from somewhere."

At the Jefferson Avenue drophouse, one of the migrants called 911 on a hidden cellphone, said Bob Smart, a DPS lieutenant who runs the unit. Emergency phone operators tracked the vicinity of the drophouse using the cellphone signal, Smart said.

As officers closed in, two coyotes ran. One tossed a black semiautomatic pistol over the fence of a neighbor's yard, Bailey said. Police find firearms in 90 percent of drophouses.

Officers caught one coyote in back of the drophouse, the other hiding nearby behind oleander bushes, Bailey said.

Police arrested a third coyote pretending to be an immigrant. Coyotes frequently try to blend in with smuggled migrants to avoid prosecution, law- enforcement officials say. But police can spot them by looking at their feet, hair and clothes to see if they look like they have walked long miles through the desert.

The task force has arrested 137 smugglers so far this year, more than the 129 arrested in all of 2008, Smart said.

Smart said word has gotten out that police are cracking down on smugglers. Smugglers convicted of kidnapping and extorting illegal immigrants are typically getting seven to 10 years behind bars, and some have received sentences of 15 years or more in prison, Smart said.

"We have a 100 percent conviction rate," Smart said. "We haven't lost a single case."

In July, police found a smuggler hiding under insulation in the rafters of a drophouse, Smart said. The attic temperature was 160 degrees. The coyote nearly died of heatstroke.

"This guy was willing to give his life not to get caught," Smart said.