PHOENIX (AP) — Federal agents acting on a tip went to a Phoenix house where they found and detained 34 immigrants believed to have entered the United States, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Wednesday.
The 34 immigrants taken into custody included 27 Guatemalans, five Mexicans and 2 Hondurans, according to a statement from the agency.
News video showed a group of people in handcuffs sitting in a driveway outside the home.
“We responded to a tip that basically informed us there was a local residence that contained a large group of suspected undocumented immigrants,” said Lauren Mack, an agency spokeswoman. “They dismantled a drop house.”
Human traffickers typically use drop houses to temporarily house immigrants who have been smuggled into the country while “waiting for transportation to another or a pickup or payment made to a smuggler,” Mack said.
The 34 migrants were detained for administrative immigration violations and processed for removal from the United States, Mack said.
There was no information immediately available on how long the immigrants had been in the home, Mack said.
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