Thread: Immigration Raids on Taquerias Net 21 Arrests

Immigration Raids on Taquerias Net 21 Arrests
Wednesday May 23, 2007 7:10pm




Springdale (AP) - Federal immigrations agents raided several Mexican restaurants in northwest Arkansas, resulting in 21 arrests.

Federal prosecutor Robert Balfe said Wednesday that the raids happened at Taqueria Michoacan restaurants in Springdale, Rogers and Lowell.

Agents and local police served four search warrants Monday, arresting 21 illegal immigrants, including Honorato Pedroza and Gema Rivera, described by prosecutors as the leaders of the group.

Agents also found $40,000 and seized 28 bags of business records.

Pedroza faces charges of operating an illegal money-wiring operation, while Rivera is accused of forging immigration documents.

A federal judge ordered the two men be held in jail pending future court hearings.

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0507/425736.html

Suspicious Wire Transfers, Documents Lead To Raids

POSTED: 1:40 pm CDT May 24, 2007
UPDATED: 4:16 pm CDT May 24, 2007

LITTLE ROCK -- Federal documents show immigration raids on Mexican restaurants that netted 21 arrests in northwest Arkansas came after nearly a year-long investigation into hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal wire transfers to Mexico.

Paul Cottrell, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a filing to U.S. District Court that the agency's investigation began when agents noticed Honorato Pedroza was allegedly using a Social Security number not assigned to him.

Cottrell alleges Pedroza used a forged document to open a bank account, through which $295,000 passed.

Federal agents raided Taqueria Michoacan restaurants in Springdale, Rogers and Lowell, arresting 21 people and seizing $40,000 dollars and numerous business records.

Federal officials say 15 adult Mexican nationals and four juvenile Mexican nationals were arrested in the raids. Two adults from El Salvador also were arrested.

http://www.4029tv.com/news/13384434/detail.html

Suspicious wire transfers, documents lead to raids in NW Ark


By JON GAMBRELL


LITTLE ROCK - Immigration raids on Mexican restaurants that netted 21 arrests in northwest Arkansas came after nearly a yearlong investigation into hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal wire transfers to Mexico, according to a federal agent's court affidavit.

Paul Cottrell, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a filing to U.S. District Court that the agency's investigation began when agents noticed Honorato Pedroza was using a Social Security number not assigned to him.

Pedroza, an employee at Taqueria Michoacan, used another forged document to open a bank account at Arvest Bank, the affidavit alleges. Cottrell wrote that bank account showed about $295,000 passed through the account to Sigue Corp., a wire transfer company in San Fernando, Calif.

Sigue then sent on money to Dom Con Rancho Tecojote in the central Mexican state of Queretaro and to an address of a Jose Salud Rivera, who was deported from the U.S. in December 2003, the affidavit says.

Armed with that information, federal agents raided Taqueria Michoacan restaurants in Springdale, Rogers and Lowell on Monday, U.S. Attorney Robert Balfe said Wednesday. Agents arrested 21 people and seized $40,000 and 28 bags of business records, Balfe said in a news release.

Temple Black, a New Orleans-based spokesman for ICE, said Thursday that 15 adult Mexican nationals and four juvenile Mexican nationals were arrested in the raids, dubbed Operation "El Rancho Tejocote." Two adults from El Salvador also were arrested.

Black declined to comment further on the raids.

Pedroza faces charges of operating an illegal money-wiring operation. His wife, Gema Rivera, is accused of forging immigration documents.

Balfe described Pedroza and Rivera as the operation's two principals. However, another affidavit filed by Cottrell in federal court shows Rivera is accused only of using another person's Social Security number and alien registration number when applying to work at a Residence Inn by Marriott in Springdale.

Charles Chadwick, a lawyer for Rivera, did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

A federal judge ordered Pedroza and Rivera held in jail pending court hearings.

A spokeswoman for Balfe has declined to comment further on the raids. Messages left with Sigue Corp. were not immediately returned Thursday.

On the Net:

Sigue Corp.: http://www.sigue.com

A service of the Associated Press(AP)
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