Arizona Foreclosure Glut Good News For "Coyotes" Seeking Drophouses For Human Smuggling Operations

The Arizona Republic reports:

• [T]he largest concentrations of Valley drophouses(1) are in the same west Phoenix and Mesa neighborhoods that have the largest share of foreclosures, a comparison of drophouse and foreclosure data shows. In addition, of the 41 Valley drophouses investigated for violence in the past year, 12, or nearly 30 percent, were in foreclosure when they were raided. The patterns show that wherever homeowners are in financial distress, "coyotes"(2) are probably lurking.

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• Investigators say they have seen an increasing connection between drophouses and foreclosures in the past year. A year ago, they noticed a small flurry of drophouses in newer subdivisions on the outskirts of the Valley. These were the same areas where buyers were getting overextended and beginning to lose their homes. More recently, foreclosures and drophouses have been showing up in higher concentrations in traditional urban immigrant neighborhoods, such as Maryvale and Mesa.

• Landlords have repeated the same story to federal agents and Phoenix detectives: They rushed to rent their homes to be able to make mortgage payments and stave off foreclosure. As households slip into deeper financial distress, more properties will be rented as a place to keep illegal immigrants, drophouse investigators say.

For more, see Foreclosed homes are drophouse favorites (Desperate owners duped by easy rent).

In a related story in The Arizona Republic, see Drophouse landlords are rarely prosecuted:

• Knowingly renting to human smugglers is a federal crime, and guilty landlords can have their houses seized. But in Arizona, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not seized a single property or referred any landlord for prosecution.

(1) A house used by those who smuggle illegal aliens into the country to temporarily stash their human cargo until their "smuggling fee" is paid.
(2) A smuggler of illegal aliens.