AP Phoenix police prepare illegal immigrants found inside a drop house for deportation in February.

They limped because of their swollen knees and blistered feet - physical reminders of their illegal trek across the Mexican border into the Arizona desert. A hobbling woman needed help from immigration workers to get onto a government bus.

The smugglers who brought them here had intended to hide them in Phoenix temporarily before moving them on to places where they could find the jobs that lured them. The plan crumbled when police found the 75 migrants crammed into an unfurnished house big enough for only one family.

Such hiding places are known in Arizona as "drop houses," one of the last stops immigrants make when they're smuggled into the country. Drop houses serve as a stopover point for sorting immigrants who are headed out of Arizona. They're places where smugglers collect their fees, which can range into the thousands of dollars, and arrange for their clients' transportation.

They also provide the setting for the worst abuses against immigrants, who usually aren't free to leave and sometimes are held until extortion payments are made.

"They treat them worse than a herd of cattle," said Phoenix Detective Tony Morales.

Authorities say the Phoenix metropolitan area probably has thousands of drop houses, though not all are active at once. And even though they found 1,600 immigrants in drop houses here in the last six months, federal officials say they do not believe the number of drop houses is rising.

Immigrants, however, are now kept in drop houses longer because it's not as easy as it once was to get them out of Phoenix, which is 180 miles from the border and works well as a distribution point for immigrant smugglers.

The nation's sixth-largest city has plenty of highways to move people around and an airport that, until a recent crackdown, helped send immigrants to other regions. The metro area's rapid growth also makes it easier for smuggling operations to blend into neighborhoods.

Arizona became the busiest illegal entry point along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border in recent years after tightened patrols in California and Texas pushed more illegal immigrants toward the state.

On Tuesday, federal authorities expected to launch an initiative aimed at crimping surging smuggling operations in Arizona, supplementing officers with 200 more agents, more helicopters, sensors and other equipment.

While smugglers may use apartments and motel rooms to hide immigrants, drop houses are usually unfurnished rental homes.

Some have doors that lock from the outside to keep immigrants from leaving. In a few cases, sophisticated smugglers have installed window bars and security cameras. At their worst, they become like human warehouses, with scores of immigrants jammed together. The toilets may not work. Food is hard to come by.

In the pink stucco house found holding the 75 immigrants last month, authorities found scores of people sitting on the floor. Glass from broken windows and garbage bags filled with their belongings were scattered around. Homes in the neighborhood were appraised as high as $480,000.

Outnumbered by their customers, smugglers will sometimes brutalize the immigrants to instill fear and keep order.

"That's their chattel. They are not going to lose it," said Tom DeRouchey, interim special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's office in Phoenix.

The more severe treatment comes when the smugglers, also known as coyotes, try to collect money from immigrants, who pay most of their bills up front and agree to cover the balance once they arrive.

If they can't pay the rest, smugglers will sometimes call families back home to demand money.

In some cases even full payment isn't enough and families will still get calls from smugglers who won't let immigrants go until extortion money is paid. Relatives may have to listen over the phone as their loved ones are slapped, pistol whipped or sexually assaulted by smugglers.

Last month, smugglers kept a 7-month-old girl as "collateral" because the mother couldn't cough up an extra $700 for a relative who had already paid in full, authorities said. When the mother was let go to get money, she alerted police. The baby wasn't harmed, and the suspected smugglers were arrested.

Mariano Lopez Garcia, who spent a week in another drop house, said he and three cousins were held by smugglers who demanded an additional $900 each. Before the money was paid, another immigrant asked if the four wanted to escape.

"We didn't want to out of fear," said the 23-year-old laborer from Mexico.

03/16/04 03:41 EST

Bertha Deffenbaugh * English and French into flawless Spanish

Phoenix, AZ, USA * www.translationsserv.com

I certainly agree Arthur... don't have the strength now to comment on that.....

A.