The Associated Press
 
PHOENIX - Smuggling "drophouses" like one found holding 159 migrants this week are now more common in upscale and newer neighborhoods in Phoenix, which has become a hub for illegal immigration, an official said Friday.

Smugglers once kept to low-income areas to find drophouses used to hold immigrants after they're brought across the border but before they are moved to their final destinations, said Russell L. Ahr, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

That's changed within the last couple of years.

"Perhaps the smugglers believe that because we have customarily seen them operate only in low-income neighborhoods they believe they'll be subject to less scrutiny in upscale neighborhoods," Ahr said.

He said the drophouse discovered Wednesday was somewhat shielded from view because it was bordered by a golf course in the back and by a small grove of orange trees on one side.

The layout "gave it a secluded quality so that after dark they could pull vehicles in through a gated entrance," Ahr said.

Phoenix police began watching the house after a neighbor complained about the traffic at the house. On Wednesday, officers pulled over two vehicles seen leaving the house with large groups of people.

Officers realized they were dealing with smugglers and called in immigration authorities, Ahr said.

Inside the roughly 2,400-square-foot house, authorities found immigrants from Mexico and Central America "sitting shoulder to shoulder, back to back," Ahr said. "You could not see the carpet."

Some of the group said they hadn't eaten for days. Some of the women were limping but told investigators it was because they had walked a long way after crossing the border.

None of the bathrooms worked, and there wasn't any furniture or food except for some canned goods, authorities said.

About 60 of the men, women and children were locked in bedrooms with deadbolts, leading investigators to speculate they may have been hostages.

Ahr said it's not clear whether anyone was held hostage, whether smugglers were trying to extort more money from them or whether they just hadn't paid the smugglers in full yet.

"These people are not free to leave until the final payment reaches the smuggler," he said.

Ahr said he believes authorities have only found such a large group in a drophouse once before, in 1999, when about 160 to 170 Central Americans were discovered in the Phoenix area.

It's more common to find groups ranging from about 20 to 70 people, he said.

Seven people believed to be immigrant smugglers were arrested during the Wednesday raid, but no charges were filed by Friday morning.

After the roundup, the immigrants were fed and checked against federal databases for criminal and immigration histories. Ahr said those without prior infractions would be sent back home.