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-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Posey <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:45:58
To: CT<[email protected]>
Subject: [CT] ICE Busts Massive Human Smuggling Ring That Stretches Length
	of U.S.

ICE Busts Massive Human Smuggling Ring That Stretches Length of U.S.

FOXNews.com

More than 800 law enforcement agents swooped down on a massive human
smuggling ring in Arizona early Thursday morning, delivering a "stunning
blow" to a criminal network that helped shuttled illegal immigrants all
around the country.



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More than 800 law enforcement agents swooped down on a massive human
smuggling ring in Arizona early Thursday morning, delivering a "stunning
blow" to a criminal network that helped shuttled illegal immigrants all
around the country.

Thursday's strike is the largest coordinated action ever led by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which partnered with eight other
federal, state and local agencies to arrest 47 suspects in Phoenix,
Tucson, Nogales and Rio Rico, Arizona.

"Alien smugglers are a scourge," ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton
said. "They violate our borders ... [and] profit at our expense by
knowingly breaking our laws, day in and day out. Today we turned the
tables on the smugglers."

ICE agents targeted shuttle van services they believe have ferried
thousands of illegal immigrants from southern Arizona to Phoenix,
providing passengers fake $30 ride receipts and even coaching them on
how to answer law enforcement agents if the buses were stopped at
immigration checkpoints along the highway. From there the illegal
immigrants were left at drop-houses or brought to shuttle services that
offer rides to destinations all over the West Coast.

ICE alleges that the businesses are part of a larger smuggling operation
that carries illegal immigrants over the border from Mexico "to the far
corners of the United States"  places as far-flung as New York, Chicago
and Los Angeles.

Morton said multiple rings had been "stopped in their tracks," touting
what he called an "unprecedented level of cooperation" with Mexican
federal police, which arrested a leading smuggler south of the U.S.
border on Thursday.

Inside the U.S., the owners and operators of the Tucson-based Saguaro
Roadrunner Shuttles, America's Shuttles, Guerro's Shuttles and Nogales
Express Shuttles were all targeted in the raid, as were the operators of
a fifth shuttle company in Phoenix, Sergio's Shuttle.

On the surface the vans appear like any other shared-ride shuttles,
taking about a dozen passengers around southern Arizona. But ICE
officials said the companies relied almost entirely on criminal activity.

ICE dubbed the investigation "Operation In Plain Sight" because of the
"brazen" nature of the alleged smuggling scheme, which helped immigrants
from Mexico, Central America and even China escape the watchful eye of
border agents.

"The defendants wrongly believed they could operate with impunity by
hiding behind the veil of legitimacy these businesses provided," said
Morton, adding that ICE has "dismantled these transnational
organizations and literally seized the engines that were driving the
criminal enterprise."

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Burke said the operation dealt a "stunning blow"
to international smuggling, "a vast conspiracy unearthed and now
dismantled."

ICE officials said the smugglers were not believed to be violent, but
stressed the far-reaching implications of their alleged crimes.

"This isn't a mom and pop enterprise. It's major international crime
operating across borders with profits literally into the billions,"
Morton said.

"The smugglers care about only one thing: money. They aren't concerned
about the human cost or the toll smuggling takes on our quality of life,
the integrity of our borders or our nation's security."

Law enforcement agents executed dozens of search and arrest warrants as
far away as Tennessee on Thursday, the culmination of an investigation
that has lasted more than two years.

Officials denied that the timing of the raids was tied to the murder of
Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, who was gunned down on his own property
on March 27. Officials investigating the killing believe an illegal
immigrant may have been responsible for the killing, which occurred near
Arizona's border with Mexico.

The raids  long in the making  had been delayed multiple times, ICE
officials said.

Thursday's actions involved agents from nine law enforcement agencies:
ICE, FBI, DEA, ATF, Customs and Border Protection, Arizona's Department
of Public Safety, Pima County Sheriff's Department, Tuscon Police
Department and Phoenix Police Department.

ICE officials said they were not focusing on rounding up illegal
immigrants but on bringing in the smugglers themselves, some of whom are
citizens and legal residents of the U.S. The agency said it would take
appropriate enforcement action if illegal immigrants were encountered
during the raids.

Indictments were being issued against the owners and operators of the
shuttle services on charges that include money laundering, alien
smuggling and conspiracy. Suspects are due in court as early as Friday.

Officials said they seized $10 million in assets, including real estate,
vehicles used for the smuggling and other property.

ICE officials predicted that the strike would put an immediate freeze on
smuggling activity in Arizona, having "dismantled" the smuggling network
and arrested key players in the international ring.

Though ICE predicted other groups would move in to take the place of the
smugglers rounded up Thursday, the agency believes it will take a good
deal of time for so sophisticated an operation to be put in place again.

--
Alex Posey
Tactical Analyst
STRATFOR
[email protected]