3 Accused of Selling Phony Social Security Cards, Licenses at Swap Meet

Three men were arrested on suspicion of manufacturing and selling false documents Thursday after an undercover police officer bought a phony Social Security card at an indoor Van Nuys swap meet, authorities said.

A detective with Community Effort to Combat Auto Theft, a multi-agency task force, placed an order for a Social Security card at a booth at the Valley Downtown Swap Meet, near the intersection of Van Nuys and Victory boulevards, said Los Angeles Police Det. Robert Graybill. He was told to return about 4 p.m. and his document would be ready.

The officer returned about 4:30 p.m. and paid $20 for the phony card, authorities said. Detectives then shut down the swap meet briefly and detained five men before releasing two.

Juvenal Silva, 20, his brother, Aurelio Silva, 18, both of North Hollywood, and Cesar Barragan, 20, of Van Nuys, were being held Thursday night on $75,000 bail each at Van Nuys Jail. All are undocumented immigrants, authorities said.

Detectives found more than 30 false Social Security cards and driver’s licenses in envelopes tucked underneath wooden wall paneling in the rear of the swap meet, as well as several hundred dollars in cash, said California Highway Patrol Investigator Rick Marshall.

Police had been receiving complaints about people manufacturing false documents out of the swap meet for years, said Los Angeles Police Officer Martin Baggesgard. Baggesgard, who investigated the alleged document fraud, asked for the help of CECAT because the task force has undercover officers.

Graybill said the business was well-known in the community and frequented by undocumented immigrants who needed the false documents to get jobs.