Federal immigration investigators executed search warrants at a north Phoenix apartment on March 2 and discovered 23 people inside as part of an ongoing human smuggling investigation, according to authorities. The operation resulted in a significant police enforcement presence on the residential street, which alarmed neighbors.
According to The Arizona Republic, Homeland Security Investigations and the US Border Patrol executed two federal criminal search warrants at the property. ICE informed the source that the enforcement operation was part of an ongoing human smuggling investigation and that agents “discovered 23 illegal aliens” while carrying out the warrants.
The operation was led by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Border Patrol, according to the agency, but no arrests or criminal charges have been announced as of yet. Federal agents routinely follow up on searches like this with interviews and a more thorough assessment of evidence as they try to construct cases against suspected smugglers…