No Charges Filed in FBI Immigration Raid
Federal authorities Monday declined to press charges against two men who were detained after a weekend raid on a suspected illegal-immigrant refuge.
Acting on a tip from Houston police that a kidnapped 15-year-old girl was being held by so-called “coyotes,” who smuggle undocumented immigrants into the United States, FBI agents searched a house near the intersection of Fair Avenue and Tiara Street in North Hollywood about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, said Richard Rogers, district director of the Los Angeles branch of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Agents found about 10 people inside, including the girl, Rogers said. Two men, ages 24 and 30, were detained, but officials determined that all residents of the house were legal immigrants and that the girl was staying at the house voluntarily.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles declined to press charges Monday, and both men were released, an FBI spokeswoman said.
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