San Diego

Six Indian Sikhs have been indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego on charges that they operated a ring to smuggle illegal aliens, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said Friday. The suspects allegedly provided false visas and passports to hundreds of Sikhs from India and Europe to get them into Mexico, then smuggled them illegally into the United States at Calexico and Tijuana. The ring, which operated for at least a year, charged the transported aliens $4,000 to $5,000 to get them into the United States, according to the indictment. Five of the six defendants were arraigned Friday in San Diego. The sixth is considered a fugitive. They could face five years in prison and a fine.