Affidavit tells tale of drugs, aliens

By Eve Byron, of Montana Lee Newspapers - 05/26/2007
A 2004 newspaper article, concerned citizens and a chance encounter apparently led to the apprehension earlier this week of 16 suspected Mexican nationals at Melaque restaurants in Butte, Helena, Great Falls and Belgrade.

Not only are some of those arrested suspected of illegally entering the United States, but they also may have been involved in drug trafficking, according to an application for search warrant filed in U.S. District Court.

According to the sworn affidavit of John Stavlo with the Department of Homeland Security, he became interested in the Melaque restaurant after reading an August 2004 story in The Montana Standard regarding a new restaurant chain in Montana.

(Read the entire affidavit under Local News.)

In the article, Magdelano Barragan was identified as the owner of the chain, which he operated with the assistance of seven of his 11 brothers.

Four months later, agents in the Helena office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement began to receive reports that employees of the Melaque Restaurants were illegal immigrants. A random check of the names, birthdays and Social Security numbers for two of the employees showed they were using Social Security numbers that weren’t issued to them, documents show.

Meanwhile, Stavlo also was working with the Southwest Montana Drug Task Force in Butte.

On May 17, 2005, he was on the way to the law enforcement office in Butte when he noted a vehicle with a Mexico license plate parked by the side of the road. Stavlo spoke to the owner, Andres Barragan-Lopez, who said he was trying to transfer the license plates from Mexico to Montana, and was operating the Melaque restaurant with his brother, Magdelano Barragan, documents show.

Barragan-Lopez said he was in the United States legally, but a records check showed he was here illegally and actually had been deported in 1995 after a conviction in Oregon for heroin distribution.

Barragan-Lopez later was convicted in federal court for re-entry of a previously deported criminal alien.

A week after running into Barragan-Lopez, Stavlo was contacted by the manager of the Wells Fargo Bank in Butte. The manager said that one of her tellers reported that Hispanic males had been making large cash deposits into a bank account that was being monitored for drug transactions.

According to Stavlo’s affidavit, the teller said the person making the deposit was Juan Pablo Barragan-Meza, based on the Oregon identification card he had presented. A check of the license plate on the truck used by Barragan-Meza showed it was registered to Jose Mendez of Butte, but immigration services couldn’t find any lawful entry documents into the U.S. for Mendez, documents show.

Shortly afterward, agents requested the names and Social Security numbers for all employees working at Melaque restaurants in Butte, Helena, Belgrade and Great Falls. Of 45 names submitted, 22 Social Security numbers didn’t match and three numbers were invalid, Stavlo said.

Detectives later interviewed the girlfriend of Mendez, who allegedly said he drove to Mexico every two weeks or so to get drugs for sale, and that he was involved in the distribution of methamphetamine, documents show.

During a separate interview with an employee at the Melaque restaurant in Butte, the employee stated that the restaurant manager, Rodrigo Rodriguez, “had been going to Las Vegas and acting as a smuggler of undocumented immigrants known as a ‘coyote,’ â€