Border Agents Say 10 Arrests Break Large Smuggling Operation

U.S. Border Patrol agents raided four “drop houses” in Southern California on Friday and broke up what they said was a sophisticated ring responsible for smuggling as many as 6,000 Mexicans and Iranians across the border.

Wayne Kirkpatrick, a supervisory Border Patrol agent, said that agents arrested five suspected organizers in early-morning raids in Carlsbad, Oceanside and Azusa. Five other people, believed to have been drivers and collaborators, were arrested earlier this month.

According to Kirkpatrick, the group allegedly smuggled 400 to 500 people into the United States each month over the past year. He said the group would hold the Mexicans and Iranians in the drop houses until their friends or relatives paid $350 to have them released.

Genaro Ramirez, a 30-year-old Mexican citizen, was being held late Friday without bail in Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego on charges of illegally smuggling undocumented aliens into the country, Kirkpatrick said.

Released on bail were Carmen Reyes, 59, a U.S. citizen from Riverside; Maria Cereco, 37, a U.S. citizen whose address Kirkpatrick did not know; Felix Cruz, 30, a permanent resident alien living in Carlsbad, and Javier Reyes, 17, the son of Carmen Reyes.

All five were arraigned Friday before U.S. Magistrate Irma Gonzalez.

According to Kirkpatrick, the alleged smugglers would meet their clients in Tijuana and “store” them in the Hotel D.F. in Tijuana’s Zona Norte. From there, they would escort the undocumented aliens across the border and drive them to the drop houses.

Most of the illegal immigrants would be transported eventually to Azusa, Kirkpatrick said. There, the alleged smugglers would contact friends or relatives of the clients and demand a $350 fee for having brought them across the border, Kirkpatrick said. “These people were not free to leave. They were actually kidnaped or held until the money was paid,” he said.

Earlier this month, Border Patrol agents arrested five people believed to have been drivers for the organization. Kirkpatrick identified them as Masoud Niwarani, 28, an Iranian living in Los Angeles; Judith Van Eaton, 29, of San Diego; Anita Mae Boen, 30, originally from Galesburg, Ill.; Charles Jay Vary, 37, of Leucadia, and James Collins, 37, of Leucadia.

Kirkpatrick said the investigation lasted six months and involved videotaping and a Border Patrol agent wearing a concealed tape-recording device. He said additional arrests are expected.