Late last Tuesday Phoenix police discovered eleven suspected undocumented immigrants who were supposedly being held against their will by human smugglers in northwest Phoenix.
Officers and detectives worked together to find the “drophouse†they suspected had been active. It was located near 35th and Dunlap Avenues. In connection with this kidnapping, there were six people arrested.
According to Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves, the six now in custody could face charges such as aggravated assault, kidnapping, human smuggling and extortion.
Surveillance of the area started after detectives received a tip from a man who called and said that he though there were people holding his brother and sister-in-law against their will and then was demanding $6,000 before they would release them.
After getting a search warrant, officers forced entry into the house Tuesday night around 10:30 p.m. They found the missing couple along with nine others, that were probably also in the US illegally.
They also found four suspects and a .38 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
The people found in the house told police that they were being held against their will.
Some of them said that the kidnappers beat them, kicked them, and pistol whipped them when their family members were not able to pay the ransom they were demanding for their safe return.
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