Thread: Authorities crack Ariz. immigrant smuggling ring

Authorities crack Ariz. immigrant smuggling ring
December 12th, 2008 @ 6:58pm
by Associated Press

PHOENIX - An immigrant smuggling ring that specialized in driving illegal border-crossers from the human trafficking hub of Phoenix to nearly two dozen states has been broken up, authorities said Friday.

Once other smugglers brought immigrants across the border, the specialty smuggling ring would charge $700 per person for driving their customers to other states. Prosecutors say the group of smugglers, also known as "coyotes," transported an estimated 10,000 illegal immigrants over the last two years.

"This was the servicing organization that got you where you ultimately needed to go," said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, whose office is prosecuting the case. "It was part of the total coyote organizations, but this is a separate arm."

Investigators said the smuggling ring was among many groups that have made Phoenix the nation's busiest smuggling hub. The city 150 miles north of the Mexican border offers a myriad of transportation routes for sending migrants to other regions.

Authorities say the ring had a constant rotation of four to six minivans, each carrying 10 to 15 immigrants, in transit each week. Each van generated $7,000 to $8,000 per trip.

Police have arrested 12 of the 35 people indicted on felony charges of illegally conducting an enterprise and money laundering. The other 23 are being sought, and nine others were arrested on related charges during the investigation, according to the attorney general's office.

The alleged leaders of the ring, 26-year-old Rosalio Palacios Alfaro and 28-year-old Hector Moises Ibarra Ramirez, also face charges of conspiracy and participating in a criminal syndicate. Both men are illegal immigrants from Mexico who were living in Phoenix.

Palacios ran the stash houses in Phoenix where the immigrants were hidden before their trek to other states, while Ibarra was in charge of keeping the vans maintained, said Lt. John Collins, a Phoenix police supervisor who helped lead the investigation.

It's not known whether Palacios and Ibarra have yet lined up attorneys to represent them. A review of court records didn't show they had attorneys, and the prosecutors' office said it wasn't aware of the two men having lawyers.

Authorities say the states where the illegal immigrants were driven to were Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Washington. No city locations were available.

Investigators said they learned of the smuggling operation while investigating the kidnapping of an immigrant smuggler.


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http://www.alipac.us/article3819.html

Do the top officials of DHS get to pick out which illegals they want to keep to clean their homes before making the arrests?