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Feds: 6 Mesa motels aided human smugglers
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Six motels on Mesa's Main Street were safe houses for human smuggling, federal officials said Thursday following raids earlier this week.
Thirteen owners and former owners have been indicted, and all but one has been arrested. Each defendant is charged with a count of conspiring to harbor illegal aliens, an offense carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Also, the government is seeking forfeiture of five properties.
Tuesday's raids ended a nine-month undercover probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The indictments accuse the defendants of renting rooms to undercover officers posing as smugglers, with some charging the smugglers higher rates than ordinary customers. The indictments also describe how some of the defendants coached the undercover officers on ways to conceal their smuggling activities: Advising them to register under false names, rent multiple rooms and park their vehicles in places that would avoid attracting attention.
"Unfortunately, we have businesspeople who have found profit in taking advantage of illegal aliens by providing safe harbor and not allowing them to be seen by law enforcement," said ICE Special Agent in Charge Roberto G. Medina.
The probe began in February after ICE received several leads about possible human smuggling activity at the establishments. Border Patrol agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted ICE in the ensuing investigation, and Mesa police assisted in serving the search warrants.
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