Thread: Calif. bust again takes over a year to make arrests

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Jun 2, 10:47 PM EDT

Eleven charged in LA with smuggling hundreds of immigrants
By DAISY NGUYEN
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eleven members of an alleged smuggling ring were charged with transporting hundreds of illegal immigrants - including babies and young children - to the United States from Mexico, federal authorities announced Friday.

The alleged ringleader, Juan Ramirez-Ramirez, 37, and four others were arrested Thursday during federal raids in Oxnard, Riverside and Los Angeles, while six others remain at large, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. Agents also rescued a nine-month-old girl held by the suspects and took 30 illegal immigrants into custody on immigration violations.

A criminal complaint unsealed Friday in Los Angeles claims the defendants were part of an Oxnard-based smuggling ring that directed illegal immigrants to a hotel in Sonora, Mexico, connecting them with smugglers who then led them across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Members allegedly transported the immigrants to drop houses in Yuma, Ariz., and then to Oxnard, where they were held until the smuggling fees -ranging from $1,600 to $2,800 - were paid.

The ring allegedly held some immigrants in drop houses for days with little food. At a Yuma drop house allegedly used by the group, federal agents saw a handwritten sign on the window that read "Help us," according to court documents.

"These organizations are only concerned about money, that's their main and sole focus," said David Wales, an ICE resident agent in charge in Ventura County.

Undercover investigators began intercepting the ring's telephone calls last April. Agents decided to conduct raids after hearing the baby girl was being held in Oxnard while the suspects tried to collect smuggling fees from the child's mother, Wales said.

The infant was turned over to child protective services, and investigators were trying to locate her parents.

"We believe her mother was supposed to be on her way up to be reunited with the baby. Where she is now, we really have no good idea," Wales said.

The suspects face four felony counts of conspiracy, bringing illegal aliens into the United States, transporting and harboring illegal aliens. Each count carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence if convicted.

Besides Ramirez-Ramirez, the other four arrested were Maria Margarita Renovato-Rangel, 24, of Oxnard; Maria De Jesus Renovato-Rangel, 29, of Oxnard; Joel Rodriguez-Vargas, 27, of Riverside; and Manuel Leon-Morales, 62, of Los Angeles.

They made their first court appearance Thursday in federal court, where a judge ordered them held without bail, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis Kin. A grand jury was expected to return an indictment against the suspects in the coming days, he said.

Too bad these got away! "while six others remain at large"

Dixie