How the rotten housing market helps smugglers

In border states, some property owners have been unable to sell their homes, so they're renting them out. In a few cases, they've unwittingly rented to smugglers who use the homes as drophouses for immigrants who've just crossed the border. And uh, the smugglers are not particularly finicky about cleaning.

Comments

[eephus]

This is Arizona. There are drop houses everywhere in Phoenix, and we have regular gun battles between rival smugglers who try to steal each other's "clients". It's a war zone. 1,000 drop houses in Phoenix is likely a ridiculously low estimate.

See, I told you I wasn't making this stuff up.

[Searching]

I never thought you were making this up.. What I dont understand is, why are they kept captive if they are clients? Dont they pay for these services in advance.. If not, where does the money come from once they are here?
I mean are they selling these people out? or what?

[James Hart]

It's sort of like the "tour bus" from Hell.

[Mickey Mouse]

Could they also be drug mules? Maybe that's why they are so "protective" over clients, because their cargo are more than just people.