Man arrested in Wheat Ridge for human smuggling
Ten illegal aliens released for lack of room at ICE facility
by Vinita Nair
News2

April 18, 2007

WHEAT RIDGE (KWGN) -- A 36-year-old Mexican National is behind bars on charges of human smuggling in Wheat Ridge.

Wheat Ridge Police say they arrested Abram Calderon-Garcia Friday night around 6 p.m at the King Soopers in the 3400 block of Youngfield Street. They say a security guard in the supermarket noticed suspicious activity and contacted them.

"He'd noticed several individuals coming into the store and spending a lot of time in the bathroom and then going back out into the parking lot, and everyone was coming out of this one particular pick up truck," said Lisa Stigall, spkesperson for the Wheat Ridge Police Department.

When police arrived, they say they realized Calderon-Garcia was attempting to smuggle ten illegal aliens from their home in Mexico to a farm in Georgia. They were packed in the bed of his Ford F-150 truck, and according to police, it appeared they had not showered in days.

"It was obvious they were trying to clean up at the King Soopers," said Stigall.

Police say they arrested Calderon-Garcia, and then contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his ten victims. It was then they learned ICE "did not have the resources, they have a 400-bed facility that is full, so those ten individuals had to be released," said Stigall.

ICE issued this statement in response:

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) works cooperatively with law enforcement agencies throughout our area of operations. We make every effort to quickly respond to requests for assistance from our law enforcement partners. At the same time, however, we must prioritize our response based on available resources and the critical nature of the request."

Wheat Ridge Police tell us they did give the illegal aliens information about nearby hotels, and returned to them the money they had given Calderon-Garcia to smuggle the there. When asked why they didn't arrest the illegal aliens themselves, Stigall said it is not illegal under state law for the to be here.
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