Agents Rescue 34 at Drop House 

BY JONATHAN ATHENS
June 11, 2005

http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_17180.php

Federal authorities late Friday morning rescued 34 illegal aliens and shut down a drop house in Yuma, a situation they say was "a human tragedy waiting to happen."

U.S. Border Patrol agents, responding to a call from a concerned citizen, found the aliens, all from Mexico, inside a pink one-bedroom residence bearing "For Rent" signs at 560 7th St., said Yuma Sector spokesman Joe Brigman.

Brigman described conditions of the residence as "the worst conditions for a drop house (here) in recent memory."

The house did not have utilities, water, air conditioning and temperatures inside the dwelling were at least 110 degrees, Brigman said, adding Border Patrol agents estimated the illegal aliens had been at the house for at least seven hours.

Although none of the illegal aliens, among them four children between the ages of 5 and 8, were in medical distress, the conditions, along with the triple-digit temperatures inside were "a human tragedy waiting to happen," Brigman said.

None of the illegal aliens are suspected of being connected to the commercial smuggling operation that brought them here, Brigman said, adding, "We are conducting an extensive investigation into the property owners and expect a full measure of justice of the persons responsible."

Had it not been for the citizen phone call alerting authorities to the residence, Brigman said Border Patrol agents would not have been able to locate the drop house and rescue the illegal aliens.

The incident marks the seventh drop house federal authorities have discovered and shut down in Yuma County in the last five weeks.

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Jonathan Athens can be reached at 539-6857 or jathens@yumasun.com