(KTLA-TV) |
RESEDA -- Police have discovered a house in Reseda which appears to have been a holding cell for more than a dozen illegal immigrants being held against their will.
Officers at the Los Angeles Police Department West Valley division have confirmed what appears to be a drop house at 7942 Newcastle Ave.
A drop house is a building in which illegal immigrants are being held hostage by someone paid to smuggle them into the United States.
At 6:45 p.m. Sunday, one of the immigrants somehow obtained a cell phone and called police, telling them they only had a small window of time to be rescued before the smugglers returned to the house, according to Lt. Jeffrey Perkins of the LAPD.
Officers traced the call and walked door to door in the neighborhood before they discovered the home containing the alleged immigrants.
Fourteen immigrants were found inside, including ten from Guatemala, three from El Salvador and one from the Dominican Republic, according to Virginia Kice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They were reportedly being held in the residence for up to four days.
Typically in situations similar to this, the people who are paid to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S., called coyotes, hold the immigrants hostage and refuse to release them until they are paid a ransom from their families, police said.
No suspects were found at the home, though the LAPD continues to investigate the matter.
Officers at the Los Angeles Police Department West Valley division have confirmed what appears to be a drop house at 7942 Newcastle Ave.
A drop house is a building in which illegal immigrants are being held hostage by someone paid to smuggle them into the United States.
At 6:45 p.m. Sunday, one of the immigrants somehow obtained a cell phone and called police, telling them they only had a small window of time to be rescued before the smugglers returned to the house, according to Lt. Jeffrey Perkins of the LAPD.
Officers traced the call and walked door to door in the neighborhood before they discovered the home containing the alleged immigrants.
Fourteen immigrants were found inside, including ten from Guatemala, three from El Salvador and one from the Dominican Republic, according to Virginia Kice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They were reportedly being held in the residence for up to four days.
Typically in situations similar to this, the people who are paid to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S., called coyotes, hold the immigrants hostage and refuse to release them until they are paid a ransom from their families, police said.
No suspects were found at the home, though the LAPD continues to investigate the matter.
