Four Arrested in Sale of Fake Licenses Case

Investigators have arrested four men suspected of selling counterfeit California driver’s licenses to undercover agents in the area of McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street, a hub for such unlawful activities, authorities said.

Acting on tips from residents who were solicited to buy false documents, including driver’s licenses, investigators from the Department of Motor Vehicles and Santa Ana police set up surveillance Tuesday in the parking lot of a strip mall at McFadden and Bristol.

Authorities also sent several undercover detectives to the area, where they were solicited to purchase driver’s licenses at $50 apiece, said Al Caruso, area commander for the DMV.

“They usually are taken back to either a storefront or an apartment or a van to have their photos made,” Caruso said. “Then they were asked to wait for 15 minutes while the [counterfeit] driver’s licenses are made.”

Arrested were Aurelio Salgado Rogel, 22, of Santa Ana; Oscar Ernesto Negrette, 36, of Tustin; Ruben Peraza Hernandez, 19, of Santa Ana; and Candalrio Alvarez Villegas, 42, of Santa Ana. All four were being held at Santa Ana City Jail on suspicion of forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery and sale of false documents. Bail was set at $10,000 each.

Detectives suspect that the four men were “the front men” who canvass particular areas for potential buyers and then bring their businesses back to production areas, or “laboratories,” where the documents are manufactured.

Caruso said detectives are continuing to search for the “laboratory” linked to the four suspects so they can shut it down.