3 Mexican nationals charged in Phoenix drop house investigation

PHOENIX - A three count indictment was handed down Friday against the last of three defendants facing charges for holding three juveniles and 16 others hostage at a Phoenix drop house last month.

On May 20, a federal grand jury in Phoenix returned indictments against defendants Guadalupe Toribio-Caballero, 25, Humberto Guzman Caballero, 30, and Yesica Diaz-Escalante, 25, all nationals of Mexico, for violations of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, hostage taking, and harboring illegal aliens for profit. All defendants have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty.

"The indictment alleges these defendants used force and intimidation to hold minors hostage and extort money from their families," said U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke. "The circumstances of this case show the extraordinary violence and risk that continue to inhabit the world of illegal alien smuggling."

According to the Office of the United States Attorney District of Arizona, the indictment alleges that beginning sometime in March 2010 continuing to May 11, 2010, the defendants detained and held several undocumented immigrants against their will, including several juvenile victims from El Salvador, between the ages of 10 and 16.

The victims, including the children, were reportedly held hostage at a Phoenix drop house, where the defendants threatened the victims, physically intimidated them, and kept them in a locked house in order to compel their family members to pay the smuggling fee.

The charges stem after federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received a information that the three juveniles from El Salvador were being held hostage in Phoenix.

With the help of the Phoenix Police Department, ICE located the drop house and discovered an additional 16 hostages being held at the location. The hostages told law enforcement that they had been smuggled into the United States and were being held against their will in the house until their families paid their smuggling fees.