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BP searches for stash houses in Fry

By BILL HESS
Friday, August 20, 2004 1:01 PM MDT

Herald/Review

SIERRA VISTA - This city is not exempt from homes and motels being used as stop over places for illegal immigrants heading north.

Last week, two homes - one a trailer and the other a stick and stone building - were raided by members of the U.S. Border Patrol's Naco Station Disrupt team, leading the apprehension of 26 illegal immigrants and the arrest of a Sierra Vistan on federal charges, according to Tucson Sector spokeswoman Andrea Zortman.

Thursday, two U.S. Border Patrol agents, who asked not to be identified, talked about the use of places as drop houses for illegal immigrants.

While there have been a number of homes in places like Bisbee and Naco, Ariz., used by those who smuggle illegal border crossers, Sierra Vista and county enclaves like Fry Townsite, which is surrounded by the city, are part of the problem, one of the agents said.

The trailer and house hit last week by agents assigned to the Naco Station Disrupt team, a function designed to disrupt the actions of smugglers, were in the Fry Townsite.

One was a house at 240 South Railroad, where a dozen illegal immigrants were found on Aug. 11 and taken into custody, according to Zortman.

"Although a smuggling case could not be established against the owner of the house she was reported to Child Protective Services for possible health violations," the spokeswoman said, adding that two of the woman's minor children were living in the house at the time of the raid.

The conditions were atrocious because of the illegal immigrants, Zortman said.

The outdoor of the yard of the house was full of debris and Zortman said the inside was worse.

Since the woman was not charged, her name was not released.

On Friday, a trailer on Lot 33 of 300 South Railroad, a mobile home complex of generally dilapidated structures, was where 12 illegal immigrants were taken into custody, the spokeswoman said. Another two were found in a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier parked outside the trailer, Zortman said.

The resident of the trailer, Jose Miguel Miranda, 51, was arrested and is being held after being indicted on conspiring to transport and harbor illegal immigrants for the purpose of financial gain, Zortman said.

The vehicle was also seized.

Thursday, one of the agents said there is a tendency for people smugglers to put people up in houses and motels in the Sierra Vista area when the Border Patrol's checkpoint is put up, north of Mustang Corners along Highway 90.

The movement of the illegals begin again when the checkpoint is taken down, he added.

Some people in the Sierra Vista area might be surprised to know that homes in upper middle class neighborhoods are also used as a stop for illegal immigrants, the agent said.

In recent months, upscale vacant homes in the Phoenix area have been rented by smugglers and used as drop houses, sometimes with up to 100 people being found in a house, according to news reports.

Another agent said, "As long as they (people smugglers) are making money it's not going to stop."