Ransom Report Led INS to ‘Drop House’

A woman’s call to police complaining that her niece was being held for $500 ransom at a dilapidated Pacoima house led to a raid late Thursday that resulted in the arrest of 43 suspected illegal aliens, federal immigration officials said Friday.

Half the people found in the house were being detained by people who smuggled them into the country and who were demanding more money, according to Thomas F. Gaines, assistant district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s anti-smuggling unit.

Officials described the three-bedroom home at 9807 Telfair Ave. as a classic “drop house,” a place where smugglers keep illegal aliens hidden soon after they arrive from Mexico. Dozens of people were crammed into rooms whose floors were covered with dirty mattresses, police said.

While INS agents were at the house, a telephone answering machine took about 25 recorded messages regarding pickup and drop-off times of other people, and calls inquiring about people at the house, Gaines said.

The 24-year-old woman whom police were trying to find was not there, however, police said.

The woman’s aunt, who lives in South-Central Los Angeles, called police Thursday to say her niece was being held and abused by “coyotes,” a common name for people who smuggle illegal aliens.

Names Not Made Public

Authorities would not release the names of the woman or her missing niece.

Of those arrested, 27 were men, 13 women and 3 children, Gaines said. The group included five people suspected by INS agents of running the drop house, he said.

Most of those arrested opted for voluntary deportation to Mexico. One woman was released after proving she was a legal alien and two men requested hearings in immigration court, Gaines said.

The U. S attorney’s office decided to let the people leave the country without criminal prosecution because it was not a substantial case, Gaines said.

“What was happening at that house was not that unusual,” he said. “A call is made to relatives by the smugglers who say ‘OK, we have your loved ones here. You have to pay to get them.’ ”

The smugglers often say they will charge $500 to bring people into the country but then demand another $300 when they arrive at the drop house, INS officials say.

About 20 of the people arrested Thursday belong to one extended family that lived at the house, Gaines said. The rest told INS agents that they had just arrived from Mexico, he said.

No Signs of Abuse

“There were no overt signs of physical abuse of the people,” Gaines said. “But the implication was clear--they were being kept in one location and they couldn’t leave. These people didn’t know where they were. They were waiting for someone to get them out.”

Several young men who arrived at the house Friday morning said their parents and three brothers lived there. One man, who said he would not give his name because he is not a U. S. citizen, denied that a smuggling ring was operated from the house.

He said the family had gathered Thursday night to celebrate his nephew’s second birthday. The family was making enchiladas and starting up a barbecue when police arrived, he said.

The man said he was not at the house at the time but that the people arrested were his cousins, uncles and aunts, all from Mexico. He said his wife and child had been taken away but that he was afraid to call authorities to find out what happened to them.

During the night, he said, vandals had stolen valuables from the house and several other young men had moved their belongings out of the house Friday.

Los Angeles County records list the owner of the house as Arthur Leon of Pacoima.

Claimed Owner Arrives

A man who said he owned the house but declined to give his name also arrived at the site early Friday.

He said he had rented the house to a couple in their 50s and their sons for several years and was unaware of any illegal activity. The couple had lived in this country for at least 15 years, he said.

“I know they always have big gatherings with a lot of people, but I never thought anything of it,” he said. “I come by every day and there have never been any problems.”

Inside the house’s kitchen, facilities were crusted with food. Nine beat-up cars were parked in the backyard, where chickens roamed. Two soiled couches, a high chair and rickety wooden table were in the garage.

The owner boarded up the garage and locked the house Friday.