Authorities: Human Smuggling Ring Used Non-Spanish Speaking Black Drivers
A human smuggling ring used non-Spanish speaking African-Americans to drive suspected illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border to the Los Angeles area, according to immigration authorities.
“We estimate about 1,000 people were smuggled across the border during the time of the investigation,” said Claude Arnold, a special agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The crossings allegedly occurred near San Diego.
The vehicles had hidden compartments under the hood, he said. Other riders were allegedly locked inside trunks.
Conspirators assumed authorities would not seek criminal charges against individual drivers smuggling six or fewer people, authorities said.
Five Los Angeles-area residents were indicted, including suspected ringleader Maria “Reyna” Lopez-Diaz, 60, of Compton, California, authorities said. Four were taken into custody Thursday.
Lopez-Diaz and two others are in the country illegally and face possible deportation, the customs enforcement agency said in a statement.
The investigation, which involved several agencies, began in January 2010.
People paid “$2,000 to $4,000 to be smuggled into the U.S.” and were locked in trunks or compartments next to loud V8 engines during some of the hottest times of the year, Arnold said.
The scheme sought out “financially disadvantaged U.S. citizens from south Los Angeles who did not speak Spanish, offering them $300 to $800 for every illegal immigrant they successfully transported,” the customs enforcement agency said in a news release.