In Phoenix, police took 54 people into custody after raiding a drop house for illegal immigrants smuggled into the United States. Law enforcement officials are reporting that the illegal immigrants were tortured by the smugglers as they demanded for money.

One man’s head had been wrapped in a plastic bag and submerged in a waste-filled toilet, said Maricopa County sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla. The man’s pregnant wife was severely beaten and will probably lose her baby, he said. Deputies are investigating reports that smugglers held at least five other immigrants at gunpoint and demanded more money. Women and children were screaming inside the home when deputies entered, Chagolla said. There was little food and no furniture inside, he said.

Submerging a head into a toilet is a tactic that is common in Mexico.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a former regional director for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said shoving a head into a toilet is a common method of torture in Mexico. “It appears the illegal criminal element is entering this county and is bringing its methods of carnage,” Arpaio said.

The human smuggling market between Mexico and the United States generates an estimated $7.5 Billion.