CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LANCASTER

Two illegal immigrants were found Tuesday at a house where they had reportedly been held hostage by smugglers since Christmas Day.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were serving a search warrant at the house when they found a man inside being beaten by a suspected smuggler, authorities said. The Salvadoran national told agents he had been smuggled into the U.S. and was supposed to pay a $5,000 fee when he arrived. While he was at the house, smugglers allegedly beat him, assaulted him with a stun gun and denied him food.

Agents also found an Ecuadorean man, who said that he had paid his $12,000 fee but that the smugglers were demanding more. Both men are being held in protective custody.

Immigration agents began an investigation after the Salvadoran man’s brother went to a police station in New York and told them his brother was being held captive in California.

Agents monitored cellphone calls between the man and the alleged smugglers and were able to locate the house.

Roberto Jose-Tomas of Mexico and Diego Francisco-Pascual of Guatemala were arrested and charged with harboring illegal immigrants, which could result in a sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Both men were in the country illegally.

-- Anna Gorman