Thread: TX: Alleged smuggler faces life in jail

Alleged smuggler faces life in jail
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Posted: 06/12/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT


EL PASO -- The alleged leader of an immigrant-smuggling ring that used the Gateway Hotel as a safe house faces up to life in prison because an immigrant died during a border-crossing attempt in Downtown El Paso, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Thursday.

Maria Isidra Luna-Avila, also known as Doña Chila, is charged with alien smuggling resulting in death along with smuggling, conspiracy and other charges.

The charge stems from the drowning of a Mexican immigrant in the American Canal on July 25, 2007, authorities said.

Hugo Alejandro Garcia Ruiz, 19, of Juárez, disappeared in the water during a botched smuggling attempt during which Border Patrol agents caught seven migrants, El Paso Times archives showed. The teen's body was found three days later in the canal near Socorro.

Luna-Avila, 57, of Juárez, was denied bond last week by a U.S. magistrate judge. Guillermo Lopez-Nuñez, 66, another alleged ringleader, was denied bond Thursday morning.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the past two weeks arrested 25 people accused in a smuggling conspiracy including staffers of the Gateway Hotel, 104 S. Stanton. Others arrested were allegedly coyotes, transporters and operators of safe houses.

Authorities allege immigrants were slipped across the border, then housed at hotels or private homes, where they would wait for fees to be paid before being taken to other cities.

During a detention hearing Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court, hotel owner Song U. Chon, 53, silently shook his head "no" while an ICE special agent testified about the harboring of undocumented immigrants.

Chon told hotel staff that they were not immigration agents and were not to ask customers about their immigration status, the agent testified. Some staff members are accused of knowingly harboring immigrants in deals with smugglers.

Prosecutors seek to seize the Downtown hotel and $1 million they claim is from illicit proceeds.

"The arrests are the culmination of an investigation of an El Paso business owner who for years was a key player of a network that smuggled and moved hundreds of illegal aliens into the country," Manuel Oyola-Torres, Special Agent in Charge of ICE investigations in El Paso, said in a statement.

For years, immigration raids have taken place at the 1906-built hotel with $44-a-night room rates. Busts included 126 immigrants caught Feb. 24, 2006 and two Eastern European "special interest aliens" found June 4, 2003, the agent said. It was not explained why the special interest.

Authorities said wire-tapped telephones, financial records and other evidence shows the hotel was working with smugglers. Hotel guest-registration cards for the immigrants were labeled "Doña Chila."

During the hearing, Chon's lawyer Michael Gibson questioned ICE's checks into Chon's finances and it was learned that Chon's taxes were prepared by a former hotel employee now with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Chon, who emigrated from Korea in 1983, was denied bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Mesa.

Other hotel staffers arrested are night manager Alejandro Garcia Rico and former maintenance man Jose Herrera, who were both denied bond last week. Day manager Armando Arzate and Juo-Hsuan Hsu, who once ran a cafe inside the hotel, had bond set at $20,000.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com;546-6102.


http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12574472

I wonder how many times this is repeated all over the US, particularly in the border states.

Coyotes are great at concealing their drop houses, but there must be some tell tale signs that we could look for.

Anyone have any ideas?