By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A man from Mexico ran a stash house with inhumane conditions, including exterior door locks that prevented anyone from leaving, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
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Hector Ambrosio Ruiz, 30, of Mexico, was arrested Thursday after Homeland Security agents served a search warrant Wednesday at a Phoenix home suspected of being a stash house for migrants.
Federal authorities found Ruiz hiding in a closet with 11 other migrants, prosecutors said. All 12 were found to be in the country illegally.
Ruiz was the only one found with shoes on, officials said. Investigators found several other pairs of shoes in the backyard and kitchen. They also found 12 cellphones in a box in the garage.
Prosecutors said the 11 migrants slept in one room while Ruiz had his own bedroom. Authorities also noted that the “deadbolt locks on the exterior doors of the residence had been replaced with double-cylinder deadbolt locks requiring a key to unlock the doors from both the interior and exterior of the residence.”
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Prosecutors said the living room and kitchen had no furniture.
Four of the migrants were arrested and charged with illegal reentry. Hugo Ipolito Ramirez-Vasquez, Santos Antonio Giron-Castro and Obias Alexander Perez-Perez were removed from the country in 2025, and Eulogio Perez-Sanchez was removed in 2026.
Ruiz faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years of probation if convicted.
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