Thread: AZ travel agency employees accused of helping illegal immigr

AZ travel agency employees accused of helping illegal immigrants


PHOENIX -- Fourteen travel agency owners or employees were indicted on human smuggling and other charges for allegedly selling airline tickets they thought would be used by illegal immigrants, officials said Thursday.


While the employees were charged only with selling tickets to undercover officers conducting a sting, authorities said their analysis of records shows that the six travel agencies sold tickets to an estimated 6,800 illegal immigrants since mid-2005.

The undercover officers made it clear they were arranging travel for illegal immigrants and paid cash for dozens of one-way tickets across the nation. The travel agencies offered advice on being discreet at airports, authorities said.

"They were so blatant about it, because they hadn't been touched," said Lt. Vince Piano of the Phoenix Police Department. "They would say, 'OK, you need to dress them like this. You need to walk them in through this. Does he have an ID?'"

The bust marked another example of authorities trying to chip away at businesses that help smugglers transport their immigrant customers.

More than two years ago, nearly two dozen used-car-lot workers were indicted on charges of faking documents and committing other crimes to help sell vehicles to smugglers, known as "coyotes." Authorities said the vehicles were used to ferry drugs and illegal immigrants from Mexico.

"First the used car dealers, now the travel agencies who make it possible for the coyotes to do their work," said Attorney General Terry Goddard. "These are the critical facilitators, without whom it would be impossible to move large numbers of people around the country."

Phoenix, located 180 miles from the Mexican border, serves as a hub for transporting illegal immigrants across the country.

Smugglers sneak immigrants across the border, bring them to stash houses in Phoenix and make their travel arrangements. If immigrants are to be flown to their final destinations, smugglers buy tickets for their customers and, in many cases, drive them to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, investigators said.

The traffickers are drawn to the Las Vegas airport because of tighter immigration security at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, said Roger Vanderpool, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

The 14 travel agency employees were charged with the state crime of human smuggling because they were aiding in immigrant trafficking, authorities said. Some faced charges of money laundering, conspiracy, racketeering and participating in fraudulent schemes.

"I am speechless," said 38-year-old Carmen Cortez of Phoenix, who is charged with human smuggling and illegally conducting an enterprise. "That's all I have to say."

At another agency, 44-year-old Nicholas Toronto of Scottsdale said he didn't know anything about similar charges against him. "I have no idea what you are talking about," Toronto said when told of the charges.

Goddard said the initial tip that led to the investigation came from a money laundering case that tracked the wire transfers of suspected immigrant smuggling proceeds. The tip led police to a stash house where they found 30 illegal immigrants, plane tickets and itineraries.

Goddard said investigators found the names of travel agencies in the stash house.



http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6300725

Great news. They are busted.

Major human smuggling operation broken up
Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 29, 2007 06:04 PM

Fourteen Valley travel agency owners and employees are under indictment for selling airline tickets to fly undocumented immigrants across the country in what prosecutors say is "one of the largest human smuggling operations in the state's history."

According to the state Attorney General's Office, workers at six travel businesses were caught in a sting by undercover officers who posed as smugglers while buying $30,000 worth of airline tickets during the past year.

Investigators claim the agencies arranged air travel for 6,800 undocumented immigrants since August 2005, grossing nearly $2 million.
"This case underscores our increased commitment to investigate and prosecute human smuggling in Arizona," said Attorney General Terry Goddard.

The probe was initiated by a state Financial Crimes Task Force which has spent several years investigating smuggling organizations by tracking Western Union money shipments sent to Arizona drop houses for the payment of coyote fees, which now run about $2,000 per immigrant.

During raids at Phoenix drop houses, investigators repeatedly discovered airline tickets and itineraries supplied by a handful of local travel agencies. That information was used to launch the probe with help from several airlines and the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which monitors the industry's financial services and data products.

Phoenix police Lt. Vince Piano said targeted travel agencies appear to do most of their business with coyotes, and employees were brazen when approached by undercover detectives. He said investigators identified themselves as smugglers, saying, "I just brought 'em across the border. We walked through the mountains and then came to town. What do we need to do (for airline tickets)."

Piano said those indicted often gave detailed explanations on how to obtain phony identification, what the immigrants should wear and how they should behave at the airport.

Defendants face charges that include human smuggling, money laundering, conspiracy, racketeering and other felonies.

Piano said the state also is moving to seize at least some of the travel agencies under racketeering laws. Businesses identified in the indictment are: Acapulco Travel and Tour, Apricus Travel, Marina Tours, Mundo Travel and Planet Travel, all of Phoenix; and Toronto's Travel of Scottsdale.

Those indicted are: Nicholas Toronto, 44, Scottsdale; Antonio Verbera, 54, and Irma A. Palacios, 43, both of Mesa; Martina L. Wittmann, 45, Chandler; Edwin Castro, 42, Avondale; and Phoenix residents Matthew D. Landavazo, 45, Rosalba Pacheco, 39, Angelica Rivas, 30, Carmen Cortez, 38, Rafael C. Ramirez, 50, Angel S. Pavlevski, 34, Kostadin Kostadinov, 26, Zuli J. Ordonez Pena, 21, and Elizabeth Navarrette, 20.
Two other suspects were indicted for operating drop houses, but their names have not been released.

All of the airline tickets were for one-way air flights out of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, which is described as a key departure location for undocumented immigrants because enforcement is "known to be less rigorous than Sky Harbor (International) Airport."

Virginia Kice, a regional spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said immigrant smugglers are constantly seeking to vulnerabilities in travel security. However, she added, McCarran is not being overlooked by federal authorities: "Border Patrol has done operations there. ICE has done operations there."

Reach the reporter at dennis.wagner@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8874.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 29-ON.html

All of the airline tickets were for one-way air flights out of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, which is described as a key departure location for undocumented immigrants because enforcement is "known to be less rigorous than Sky Harbor (International) Airport."

6,800 illegal aliens flying out on planes doesn't sound like "less rigorous" enforcement. It sounds like "nonexistent" enforcement.

Virginia Kice, a regional spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said immigrant smugglers are constantly seeking to vulnerabilities in travel security. However, she added, McCarran is not being overlooked by federal authorities: "Border Patrol has done operations there. ICE has done operations there."

What kind of operations, Virginia. Doesn't look like it's been enforcement operations.

"I am speechless," said 38-year-old Carmen Cortez of Phoenix, who is charged with human smuggling and illegally conducting an enterprise. "That's all I have to say."

Why are you "speechliss" Ms Cortez? Do you understand that you broke the law? I can't believe her attitude - Oh yes I can.

[quote="mapwife"]
Those indicted are: Nicholas Toronto, 44, Scottsdale; Antonio Verbera, 54, and Irma A. Palacios, 43, both of Mesa; Martina L. Wittmann, 45, Chandler; Edwin Castro, 42, Avondale; and Phoenix residents Matthew D. Landavazo, 45, Rosalba Pacheco, 39, Angelica Rivas, 30, Carmen Cortez, 38, Rafael C. Ramirez, 50, Angel S. Pavlevski, 34, Kostadin Kostadinov, 26, Zuli J. Ordonez Pena, 21, and Elizabeth Navarrette, 20.[/b]
Two other suspects were indicted for operating drop houses, but their names have not been released.
[quote]

Exactly