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  1. #1
    Moderator Beezer's Avatar
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    Suspect tells agents about smuggling 800 into US

    Suspect tells agents about smuggling 800 into US




    Mike Gallagher, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.


    Sun, March 14, 2021, 10:05 AM




    Mar. 14—Byron Estuardo Arana-Hernandez, an asylum-seeker from El Salvador, had the right to remain silent, but according to court records he just couldn't shut up when he was stopped by Border Patrol agents in January on the state highway between Deming and Hatch in southern New Mexico.

    In the back of the maroon Honda Civic 25-year-old Arana was driving were five immigrants who had entered the U.S. illegally, and five more were in a black Chevrolet Silverado following the Honda. The driver of the second vehicle was Arana's mother, Lorena Luz Arana-Hernandez.

    She told Border Patrol agents she had just picked up the five men on the side of the road and was giving them a ride. She insisted they were not paying her.
    Then Byron Arana proceeded to rat his mother out and admitted his role in the two-vehicle smuggling caravan.

    After being given his Miranda warning, Byron Arana told agents he and his mother had picked up the 10 immigrants they were smuggling near Fabens, Texas, and were driving them to Dallas via Albuquerque for $1,000 each.

    He told agents that his mother was going to get half the money — $5,000 — and that he had filled her in on all the details of the smuggling operation.

    After a second warning that he had the right to remain silent, he explained to Homeland Security agents that he was a major immigrant smuggler who had smuggled more than 800 people across the border and into the United States, earning an estimated $500,000 in the last three years.

    Both mother and son had legal immigration documents — including employment authorization cards, informally called green cards. Byron Arana entered the country three years ago as an asylum-seeker. His application is still being processed.

    Lorena Arana, 43, entered the country illegally from El Salvador last year but was granted temporary legal status because she was a material witness in another smuggling case.

    Byron Arana has pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

    Lorena Arana pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.
    Prosecutors conceded she played a minor role in the conspiracy. While no guarantees were made in her plea agreement, she should face a sentence substantially less than 10 years in prison. She also faces deportation.

    Cash flow

    Byron Arana's activities had not gone unnoticed by federal agents even before the stop on New Mexico 26, according to court records. Federal authorities had been looking into his activities since last summer after his name came up when agents interviewed immigrants in Texas who had entered the United States illegally.

    According to court records, agents began doing a financial background investigation into Arana and found lots of money passing through his bank accounts in the Dallas area. A federal grand jury in Dallas issued subpoenas for the bank records that revealed more than $80,000 had passed through one account in just a few months in large cash deposits and withdrawals.

    Agents also found he had two Social Security numbers, one attached to the green card in connection with his asylum case, the other of unknown origin.

    Despite the amounts reflected in the bank accounts, the two Social Security numbers showed earnings of just $180 during the first quarter of 2018, according to court records. No other income was reported.

    After his arrest earlier this year, Homeland Security agents seized his bank accounts but found a little more than $3,000.

    Held captive

    Lorena Arana first came to the attention of federal authorities as a victim of another smuggler.

    Mario Balcazar was charged with holding her hostage last May when her common-law husband failed to pay him the $1,500 smuggling fee.

    Balcazar admitted in a plea agreement that he held Lorena Arana for a week at his residence in Hatch until the family delivered the money. She was part of a group of immigrants Balcazar smuggled from the border to Albuquerque, but when the fee wasn't paid, he drove her back to Hatch and held her captive.

    According to court records, Lorena Arana said Balcazar repeatedly threatened to kill her if the money wasn't paid and told her she would never see her son again.
    She told agents that he did not feed her while she was being held and that she shared scraps Balcazar fed his dog.

    She attempted to escape but didn't get far. She estimated she was 20 minutes into her escape when Balcazar captured her, forced her into his car and returned her to his home.

    Her common-law husband finally managed to borrow the $1,500, received gas money from his church and drove to Las Cruces, where he paid the ransom.

    He and Lorena Arana were arrested by Border Patrol agents shortly after Balcazar released her, but she was given material witness status by federal prosecutors and allowed to stay in the United States while the case against Balcazar is pending. The husband was listed as a material witness.

    Balcazar has pleaded guilty to holding someone hostage and under immigration laws is facing a minimum of 20 years in prison.


    https://www.yahoo.com/news/suspect-t...140500534.html







    ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

    DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL

  2. #2
    Moderator Beezer's Avatar
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    Every STINKING one of them needs to be shoved back over the southern border including their UACs.

    These women are no angels either.
    ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

    DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL

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