All 13 People in Broken-Down Load Vehicle Were Illegal

Updated: Tuesday, 25 Jan 2011, 7:20 PM MST
Published : Tuesday, 25 Jan 2011, 7:20 PM MST

PHOENIX - Monday, a group of illegal immigrants and their smugglers were found in back of a truck off I-10, and DPS says they're seeing this kind of smuggling much more often.

A DPS officer noticed the truck after it had broken down on I-10. The pick-up truck had ran out of fuel and another "load" vehicle traveling with them was going to get some fuel for them.

If that hadn't happened, nobody would have noticed the truck -- and it's because smugglers have gotten very good at blending in.

The two accused smugglers, Jorge Antonio Palacio-Vargas and Santos Rodolfo Hernandez-Peraza, admitted they were carrying a load of illegal immigrants.

According to court documents, Hernandez-Peraza claimed this was the third or fourth time he has done this and gets paid $1,800 dollars each time. The other suspect was a "smuggler-in-training."

Fred Zumbo runs DPS's IMPACT unit, which focuses on human smuggling. He says these days smugglers are taking smaller groups to avoid sticking out.

"They are looking to do things that will keep them from being detected by the police," says Zumbo. "It is just like a complicated chess only people are used as the pawns and it is people's lives."

Zumbo says the smugglers are also starting to recruit Americans to do the driving. Authorities are having to adapt all the time.

All 13 people arrested, including the two alleged smugglers, are believed to be in the country illegally. Six of the undocumented immigrants are from Mexico and the other five are from Guatemala.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/cr ... -1-25-2011