3 in I-10 chain wreck charged with smuggling immigrants
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.26.2008
Federal authorities have arrested three suspected immigrant smugglers involved in Thursday's multi-vehicle wrecks on Interstate 10.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators determined that three Mexican men were transporting 12 other Mexican nationals illegally into the United States, according to a news release from agency spokesman Vincent Picard.
The 15 men were in a 2001 Toyota minivan when a tire blew on I-10 near Houghton Road, causing the vehicle to roll. After that rollover, five more vehicles were involved in collisions nearby. At least 18 people were injured.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Friday, Cristobal Rivero-Huerta, 22; Martin Perez-Gomez, 22; and Evaristo Granillo-Rosales, 37, were captured after they ran from the scene of the wreck. Rivero-Huerta is believed to have been the driver, while Perez-Gomez and Granillo-Rosales are suspected of guiding the group across the border.
The five most severely injured people from the series of collisions were taken to University Medical Center.
Two of those patients have been upgraded to serious condition, while the other three remain in critical condition, said hospital spokeswoman Katie Riley.
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