Thread: Arrests Made in Smuggling Probe in Ariz

http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusin ... 31663.html

Associated Press
Arrests Made in Smuggling Probe in Ariz.

By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN 10.30.06, 8:48 PM ET

More than 40 people were arrested Monday in connection with a family-run smuggling ring that brought hundreds of illegal immigrants into the country, officials said.

The 44 arrests came after a two-year investigation into the ring, which operated out of the southern Arizona town of Bowie, officials said. Many of those arrested are American citizens, officials said. Eleven more suspects, including at least five Mexican nationals, remained at large Monday.

The ring recruited young women to smuggle migrants' infants through ports of entry, posing as their mothers, while the parents were smuggled through the desert separately, said John Lewis, the FBI special agent in charge in Arizona.

The operation smuggled people from Mexico into the U.S. for more than 10 years - most from Mexico, but also from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, Lewis said.

"This network organized, housed, fed, guided and transported large numbers of illegal aliens across the border," said Paul K. Charlton, U.S. attorney for Arizona.

The suspects were named in an indictment this month. They included the suspected ring leader, Pablo Esteban Juarez, 31; his wife, Lori Gutierrez Juarez, 30; guides who walked people across the border; drivers who transported illegal immigrants; and "money runners" who picked up smuggling fees.

Officials said each migrant was charged between $500 and $800 to be smuggled from Agua Prieta, Mexico, to Bowie, about 83 miles east of Tucson. They would be charged more - typically around $2,000, and sometimes even higher - to be moved from Bowie to their destination.

People paid the ring more than $500,000 in the past four years, Lewis said.

The indictment charged that members of the ring were involved in a conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal immigrants and to launder money for profit.

There were no telephone listings for the Juarezes in Bowie. It was not immediately known whether they had lawyers or whether they were American citizens.

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Erica Heartquist Reports
Authorities bust alleged smuggling ring, arrest more than 50 people

Oct 30, 2006 11:33 PM EST

It's all in the family. A serious ring of Arizona coyotes was brought down, this week by the Feds.
Police say the "mom and pop" shop brought thousands of illegal immigrants across the Mexican border.

It seems the bust has been a long time coming. Authorities say the one family has been human smuggling for nearly ten years.

That's about three generations of alleged human smugglers from the same family.

Taking a look at the Facts First:

The Feds got involved about two years ago... but locally, investigators have been working on this longer than that.

The Juarez family is suspected of operating out of the small desert town of Bowie.

The ring of human smugglers was allegedly charging thousands of illegal crossers hundreds of dollars on each leg of the journey through the desert.

The ring then shipped the illegals all over the country.

Bowie was allegedly the hub.

The team, along with the Willcox Police Department made their strike 7 AM, Monday morning ...tracking down fifty four suspects.

Authorities say the alleged smugglers didn't think they'd get caught in Bowie because it's so remote.

The town has a population of about 700 people.

The so called, "drop houses" in Bowie were essentially a starting place, here in the United States... and then the drivers were paid to transport the illegals up to Phoenix.

From there, they were fanned out across the country and money was allegedly wired to the Juarez family.

More than fifty alleged smugglers were in for quite a surprise... when officers from the joint law enforcement team came knocking.

"Agents and officers visited approximately 31 locations searching for individuals indicted on charges for conspiracy to smuggle aliens and conspiracy to engage in money laundering," said John Lewis, the FBI special agent in charge of this operation.

More than a hundred officers arrested members of the so called, "Juarez Alien Smuggling Organization..." or... J.A.S.O.

Investigators say the group is named after the alleged leader, Pablo Esteban Juarez.

"This organization was paid by individuals from almost every state in the U.S. totaling more than half a million dollars of known transactions over the past four years," says Lewis.

The bust... authorities say, caps a two year investigation by the FBI, The U.S. Border Patrol, ICE and the Cochise County Sheriff's Department.

The suspects are facing a combined total of more than 225 counts.

Most of them had their initial appearance at the Federal Courthouse in Tucson Monday afternoon. For each count- each alleged smuggler could face up to ten years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Investigators say the arrests broke up one of the longest standing family-run human smuggling organizations in Arizona... where illegals are brought up from Mexico and oftentimes held against their will.

"This is a health and safety and really is a humanitarian issue. These people are being held in inhumane conditions in a way that nobody wants to see them held- held against their will oftentimes, sometimes raped- family members threatened," says U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton.

Investigators say all the money was wired via Western Union back and forth between the United States and Mexico.

There are still eleven outstanding suspects... but the FBI says today's arrest made an enormous dent in the organization.







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55 charged in federal probe targeting large-scale human smuggling network
Family-run ring suspected of bringing in thousands of illegal aliens into Arizona

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases ... tucson.htm

TUCSON - Federal and local law enforcement officers fanned out across southern Arizona and several other states early this morning searching for more than 50 people allegedly linked to a far-reaching human smuggling organization that brought large numbers of illegal aliens into the United States across remote eastern sections of Arizona's international border. Arrests are also being sought in New Mexico, California, Minnesota, and Ohio.

The enforcement action caps a two-year probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, into a family-run human smuggling ring based in the tiny Arizona town of Bowie. Other agencies that aided with the investigation include the Willcox Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Graham County Sheriff's Office, and the Bureau of Land Management.

The arrests come less than three weeks after a grand jury in Tucson handed down a sealed indictment naming 55 suspects for their involvement in the scheme. The alleged violations include alien smuggling and money laundering.

Among those named in the indictment are the smuggling organization's suspected ringleader, Pablo Esteban Juarez, 31, aka Stevie, and his wife Lori Juarez, 30. The other defendants are alleged to have played a variety of roles in the scheme, ranging from “enforcers” - individuals paid to protect the leadership, guard proceeds, and prevent illegal aliens from leaving “drop houses” without approval; guides - individuals hired to walk illegal aliens across the Mexico border in to the United States; drivers - individuals paid to transport illegal aliens to Bowie and then on to Phoenix; and “money runners” - individuals paid to pick up smuggling fees.

At a press conference in Tucson this afternoon, representatives from the United States Attorney's Office, the FBI, ICE, the Border Patrol, and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office detailed how the smuggling organization, which catered primarily to Mexicans and Central Americans, operated.

According to federal authorities the ring had a monthly contract with people in Aqua Prieta, Mexico who solicited individuals wanting to be smuggled into the United States. Aliens would be briefly housed in Aqua Prieta prior to crossing the border. Guides would cross the aliens through the desert to a predetermined location along Highway 80. Drivers would then pick them up on Highway 80, north of Douglas, and take them to Bowie. Each alien would be charged between $500 to $800 for the Aqua Prieta to Bowie leg. Once in Bowie, the smuggled aliens had to pay additional money to travel from Bowie to their final destination. The aliens would be held in Bowie until the organization received the balance of the smuggling fees from family members or alien smuggling “brokers.” Then the defendants would coordinate the aliens' transportation to Phoenix, Arizona, and other destinations throughout the United States.

“This was not just any family business. The Juarez family led a network of individuals, stretching across southern Arizona and well into Mexico,” said Paul K. Charlton, the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. “This network organized, housed, fed, guided and transported large numbers of illegal aliens across the border. Due to their criminal enterprise, Bowie became a major staging area for the movement of illegal aliens to the Phoenix hub, and onward to destinations throughout the United States. Thanks to outstanding coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, we have effectively dismantled and brought to justice a major smuggling organization.”

For aliens destined for cities outside Arizona, the smuggling fees could run as high as $2,000 each. According to the indictment, the criminal organization received most of the funds in the form of wire transfers. In an effort to avoid arousing suspicion, the defendants allegedly recruited “money runners” to pick up the wired funds at the Western Union offices in the area.

“The result of this investigation was the dismantlement of an international organized criminal enterprise. Alien smuggling enterprises, such as this one, present our country with many issues to include clandestine terrorist travel and human trafficking,” said John El Lewis, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Phoenix. “First, these organizations care only about the money they are being paid, they do not concern themselves with who they are smuggling into our country, nor the motives of those individuals which could leave us vulnerable to another 9/11 attack. Secondly, many individuals cross our borders illegally after being promised a better life, only to find themselves exploited by those paying their smuggling fees. The security of our borders and the fight against criminal atrocities such as human trafficking cannot be undertaken by one agency. Our successes in these matters are dependent upon personal relationships and our ability to work together.”

As with other similar criminal enterprises, drugs and violence played a role. Many of the individuals employed by the ring were paid with narcotics. Some of the defendants possessed firearms, which they allegedly used to protect themselves and their proceeds, as well as to threaten the smuggled aliens.

“This investigation has led to the break up of one of the most ruthless and longstanding human smuggling organizations operating in eastern Arizona and it wouldn't have happened without the extraordinary efforts of all of the agencies involved,” said Alonzo Peña, special agent in charge for the ICE office of investigations in Arizona. “The defendants mistakenly believed their remote location would keep them off of our radar screen, but as they found out, in Arizona, human smugglers can't escape being brought to justice.”

Most of the suspects arrested during today's operation are expected to make their initial appearance in federal court here at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon.

A conviction for alien smuggling conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. A conviction for money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.