Border Patrol finds immigrants hiding in trailer, house

BY BLAKE SCHMIDT, SUN STAFF WRITER

Border Patrol agents detained 30 illegal aliens Tuesday at a Somerton home and during the seizure of a commercial tractor-trailer at an Interstate 8 checkpoint near Yuma, the patrol said.

A citizen's tip led agents to the home in Somerton that was serving as a "drop house" or "stash house," where 18 aliens were staying until smugglers could arrange their transportation to other destinations. It was the 13th drop-house bust in Yuma County this month, Border Patrol spokesman Rick Hay said.

The illegal aliens had been in the house in the 200 block of State Street for three days without running water or electricity, Hays said.

"Like other stash houses, the conditions inside the house were deplorable, with trash strewn throughout," said Hays, adding that none of the immigrants required medical attention. Agents also seized a vehicle located on the property.

Earlier in the morning, a Border Patrol canine sniffed out 12 illegal immigrants inside a hidden compartment of a tractor-trailer at the I-8 checkpoint near Telegraph Pass, Hays said.