92 Aliens Held for Ransom Found : Illegal immigration: They are discovered crammed into a La Puente house. Seven alleged smugglers are arrested.

More than 90 Salvadoran and Mexican illegal immigrants were found crammed into a small home in La Puente on Wednesday, held captive by seven men who smuggled the aliens into the United States but then refused to release them unless a ransom was paid.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, acting on a tip, stormed the one-story house in the 15000 block of Amar Road Wednesday afternoon and discovered the 92 aliens--among them about half a dozen children.

The seven smugglers, known as coyotes, were arrested, and the illegal aliens were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be sent back to their home countries.

It was one of the largest groups of illegal aliens in Southern California to be rescued from smugglers, who are increasingly trying to extort money from relatives on this side of the border, authorities said.

In this case, the smugglers were demanding that relatives pay up to $1,000 for the release of each alien, many of whom had already paid $1,000 or more for the perilous trip north to Los Angeles, Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Olmsted said.

Even as deputies searched the house, frantic relatives were still calling, offering to pay the ransom.

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since we got here,” said Sgt. T. J. Hageboeck. “People are calling in saying they have the $500 or the $1,000.”

Officers also took a call from an employment agency looking for potential workers.

Deputies said dozens of people had been locked inside one 8-by-20-foot room. Others were locked inside the three small bedrooms.

“It was a terrible place,” said Deputy Rich Erickson.

For much of Wednesday afternoon, the 92 people found in the house sat somber-faced on the front lawn while deputies and INS agents asked questions. Two black-and-white buses finally arrived to take the group away.

The aliens were turned over to the INS and were to be sent back to their countries, Olmstead said. This practice of handing rescued illegal aliens over to the INS has been challenged in the city of Los Angeles.

The seven smugglers were arrested, booked on suspicion of extortion and related charges and taken to the City of Industry sheriff’s station. Nearly $19,000 in cash was also confiscated, most of it from one man.

Investigators said the smuggling ring had probably been operating for some time, although many aliens in the group said they had been held in the house for only a couple of days.

“It’s a rollover, (an) ongoing process,” Hageboeck said. “People were coming and going all the time.”

Inside the house, empty soda cans and food were strewn about. An uncooked chicken was found in a cupboard. Aside from two couches and an armchair in one room, there was no furniture. Clothing and pillows covered the floor of one bedroom; a clothesline was stretched across another room.

A woman whose nephew was being held in the group alerted authorities, Olmstead said. She told investigators she got a call Tuesday demanding $1,000 for her nephew’s release. She agonized over whether to pay, then notified the Sheriff’s Department.

As deputies stormed into the house after kicking in the front door, they frightened many of the people inside. “One lady was on her knees praying,” Sgt. Charlie Araugo said.

Around the neighborhood, several residents said the activities at the house rarely aroused suspicion before Wednesday.

“I always saw people coming and going, cars arriving full of people,” said Juan Guardado, owner of the Mexicali Restaurant across the street.

“It seemed strange, but you never know. I never even imagined what was happening there.”