30-Day ‘Operation Disruption’ Nets 232 Smugglers : 7,200 Arrested in Sweep of Illegal Aliens

A special task force apprehended 7,200 illegal aliens in “staging areas and drop houses” and arrested 232 smugglers in a 30-day crackdown along the Mexican border with California and Arizona and as far north as Westminster, U.S. immigration officials said Sunday.

The experimental “Operation Disruption” was intended to disrupt alien smuggling networks in the two states during what the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service says is the peak season for illegal immigration.

Agents Move In

Immigration agents moved in as soon as staging areas and drop houses were detected, said Alan Eliason, chief patrol agent for the San Diego area. Normally, when such areas are identified as illegal alien way stations, agents do not move in immediately, instead watching the goings and comings of smugglers, hoping to be led to ringleaders, he said.

The operation, which also relied on undercover agents and informants, dramatically increased the number of illegal aliens apprehended and improved agents’ ability to identify and break up smuggling rings, INS spokesmen said.

John Belluardo, director of congressional and public affairs for the INS in Los Angeles, said that during a typical month and using standard tactics, about 1,000 aliens are apprehended. In a normal month, about 20 smuggling cases are uncovered by INS investigators.

Each of the 232 suspected smugglers and transporters of illegal aliens arrested in the special operation represents a separate smuggling case uncovered, officials said. The arrests of Operation Disruption are believed to have netted smugglers and transporters of illegal aliens involved in about 35 major smuggling rings.

Return to Mexico

More than 3,000 of the 7,200 illegal aliens apprehended were caught in the San Diego sector, which stretches from the Mexican border into Orange County on the north and to the Imperial County line on the east. About one-third of the 232 smugglers operated in that region.

Belluardo said that most of the 7,200 illegal aliens have chosen to return to Mexico rather than try their chances in a deportation hearing before a U.S. immigration judge. Those arrested for smuggling face a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $2,000 fine for each alien transported.

Agents working on Operation Disruption also seized 215 vehicles, confiscated some firearms and recovered four stolen cars.