http://www.robesonian.com/articles/2007 ... tory02.txt

ID operation in Shannon discovered; two arrested
By MARK S. MOSES

Responding to a 911 assault call recently, Robeson County sheriff’s deputies found what they called an ‘elaborate operation’ that was producing fake identifications and drivers’ licenses.

According to Lt. Howard Branch of the Robeson County Sheriff’s Department, two illegal immigrants were arrested. The two men were Alfonso Cruz Cortez, who is 20, and 19-year-old Miguel Angel Fernandez. Both lived at the same address in Shannon, 274 Ronco Drive.

Each was charged with selling false permits and drivers’ licenses, a felony, and a misdemeanor possession and manufacturing of fraudulent ID. Mr. Cortez was also charged with felony possession of a stolen firearm. Both men were jailed under a $50,000 bail and Branch also stated in The Robesonian that other charges are probable.

Branch stated that the two men got into a fight last Friday night and one of them, Cortez ran to a neighbor’s house and made the 911 call.

When law enforcement arrived, Detective Sgt. Chris Germaine found more than 100 fake drivers’ licenses and blank Department of Motor Vehicle ID cards.

“It alerted me immediately that these IDs were fake,” said Det. Sgt. Germaine. “The IDs were of different qualities and I found Polaroid pictures that had been cut out, blank cards and business cards.” He said that most of the fake IDs other than the drivers’ licenses were to may have been made to help people get jobs.

Also seized was a laptop computer, a scanner, an ID printing machine, the fake IDs, a 9mm handgun and a .22-cailbre rifle. A photo album was also confiscated had several framed photos that included graffiti and gang signs. Germaine stated that the two men might be part of a Mexican gang that uses Sur 13.

Germaine said that these two men may not have had any connection with the recent arrests made in Hoke County for making fake IDs and the bogus checks that were cashed around Red Springs several years ago, costing several area convenience stores thousands of dollars

The fake IDs were from several different states that included Tennessee and North and South Carolina.

Cortez was taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton for treatment for minor injuries. Germaine also said that the two men were in the country illegally.

Another operation busted

Over a week ago, another phony identification ring was busted in neighboring Hoke County. Three illegal immigrants, Mallely G. Hernandez and Joel P. Zalazar, both of Raeford and Gustavo Mateo St. Augustine of Red Springs, were arrested and charged with identify fraud and trafficking and distribution of false documents.

Authorities confiscated counterfeit drivers’ licenses, birth certificates, Social Security cards and auto insurance cards that were used for the same purpose of buying cars and getting jobs.

Germaine said that at this time he didn’t know whether the five men were related or in on the same phony identification ring, but was looking into that possibility of being connected somehow.