4 Arrested in Smuggling of Europeans
Federal authorities have broken up what they called a human smuggling ring that helped Eastern Europeans cross illegally into California from Mexico by posing as legal U.S. residents or citizens.
The immigrants, who paid smugglers as much as $9,000, allegedly used stolen or counterfeit documents to pass inspections in San Ysidro and other ports of entry.
The network stretched from Warsaw to San Diego, and was allegedly run by Yervand Asriyants, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Azerbaijan. Asriyants and three alleged accomplices -- Charles Edward Altamos, George Leyfer and Justin Peltier -- were arrested Monday at their homes in San Diego County. A fifth suspect, Suren Chamain, remained at large.
Dan Dzwilewski, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego office, said the investigation, which started in 2002, was continuing.
It is unclear how many immigrants successfully entered the U.S. since the group began operating in the 1990s. Most of the immigrants came from Ukraine, Poland, Russia and Lithuania.
Attorneys for Asriyants and the other defendants were not available for comment. If found guilty, the defendants could face up to 10 years in prison.
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