More than 50 People Found Inside Drop House

PHOENIX - Phoenix police and the Department of Public Safety are investigating the discovery of a drop house in southwest Phoenix.

DPS spokesman Bart Graves says that Phoenix police followed a suspicious-looking Chevrolet pickup truck with a large piece of plywood in the truck bed -- smugglers often use plywood to hide people in truck beds.

The driver and another occupant were heading to a house in a newer Phoenix neighborhood near 83rd Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road.

When police pulled up, the two men in the truck took off on foot and were caught a few moments later. Police found 44 men and 7 women being held inside the house. A total of 53 people were detained.

They were described as thirsty but in relatively good shape. The conditions of the house were deplorable.

DPS Lt. Fred Zumbo says there was no furniture in the house, there was rotten food inside, and they were fighting over water. "They may actually be happy to be rescued, because of the fact the conditions were so poor... maybe they were being held against their will, maybe they were threatened."

The group doesn't appear to have been inside the U.S. for very long. They are reportedly from Guatemala.

DPS says that smugglers are charging people anywhere between $5,000 and $7,000 to bring a person from Guatemala over the border to the U.S.