An alleged identity theft and forgery ring was disrupted in southeast Phoenix this week after deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office executed warrants at two residences and arrested five illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Two of the ring leaders, Eduardo Chavez-Elizalde, 33, and Federerico Velasco-Lopez, 33, were arrested on suspicion of identity-theft-related offenses and are accused of providing forms of fake identification to help other illegal immigrants gain employment, according to the sheriff’s office.
The warrants were executed at 4702 E. Apollo Road and 3240 E. Southern Ave., where deputies confiscated computers, weapons, ledgers and hundreds of forged documents, including fake Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and residency cards.
Acting on a tip from the illegal immigration hotline, sheriff’s investigators had the group under surveillance for six months, authorities said.
