Cross-Border Money Laundering Ring Broken

POSTED: 2:45 pm PDT August 10, 2007
UPDATED: 5:59 pm PDT August 10, 2007


PHOENIX -- Authorities said Friday that they broke up a money laundering ring run through a shuttle service whose employees sneaked money from Arizona into Mexico for drug and immigrant smugglers.

Attorney General Terry Goddard said 47 people, including the owners and drivers for the business known as Mota's Shuttle Place, were indicted on conspiracy, money laundering, weapons and drug charges. The business shuttled people by van between Phoenix and locations in Mexico.

The indictments were the result of a four-month investigation conducted by the Phoenix Police Department.


Goddard said smugglers would hand over their ill-gotten proceeds to certain employees of the shuttle service and that the drivers would hide $30,000 to $50,000 on their persons.

Images: Mota's Surveillance Footage

Once near the border in Lukeville, Ariz., the person carrying the money would walk across the border into Mexico. Generally, people leaving Arizona aren't searched as they enter Mexico, Goddard said.

Detectives said Gustavo Mota Sr. ran the operation out of Mexico while his son, Gustavo Mota Jr., oversaw the Phoenix operations.



Gustavo Mota Sr. and Gustavo Mota Jr.



No one answered several phone calls placed Thursday afternoon at Mota's Phoenix office.

Phoenix police Lt. Vince Piano said the shuttle service helped 20 drug and immigrant smuggling groups sneak money across the border.

Police said Mota's charged a handling fee, which the drug dealers paid in cash during their initial dropoffs. Police estimated the fee at around 3 percent per transaction.

After dropping off money at the shuttle service's offices in Arizona, people who worked for the smuggling operations where followed back to places in Phoenix where they ran their illegal businesses, Piano said.

From there, investigators started to build drug cases against members of the groups, Piano said.

During the course of the investigation, nearly 40 search warrants were executed. Investigators said they seized about 7,000 pounds of marijuana, 55 pounds of methamphetamine, $1.4 million, 27 vehicles and 27 guns.

Images: Evidence Seized In Money Laundering Bust

The 47 indictments announced Friday were for people associated with Mota's. Another 20 were wanted in connection with the drug organizations. Forty have been arrested so far.

Goddard said the smuggling rings turned to the shuttle service after state authorities made it harder for their proceeds to be wired into Mexico.

Over the last three years, authorities have tried to disrupt smuggling networks by examining their transportation networks and monitoring the movement of their money.

Some employees of used-car lots were accused in 2004 of selling cars to immigrant smugglers, also known as coyotes, so they could ferry drugs and illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Earlier this year, some travel agency employees were accused of selling airline tickets they thought would be used by illegal immigrants who had sneaked into the country through Arizona.

"However you can move people and money, the coyotes are going to find it and abuse it," Goddard said.
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