FBI raid nets four arrests (Columbus Dispatch)

FBI raid nets four arrests
Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:08 PM
By Mark Ferenchik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

FBI and immigration agents raided a West Side house today, arresting one man on a federal weapons charge and three others, apparently on immigration-related matters.
Cesar Rafael Tejada-Sanchez, 41, of Columbus, who faces the weapons charge, was taken to Cincinnati to face a judge, FBI spokesman Mike Brooks said.
Tejada-Sanchez, whom Brooks said agents think is a convicted felon, was taken into custody after agents served a warrant at a home at 897 Maurine Dr., near Briggs Road, and west of Franklin Heights High School.
Brooks said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took three others into custody.
Nothing is known about them. An immigration agent in Columbus said he knew nothing about the raid. An ICE agent in Cincinnati referred a phone call to ICE spokesman Greg Palmore in Detroit, who did not return calls or an e-mail.
About 10:30 a.m., agents were seen bringing out two men in handcuffs and leg cuffs from the light-blue, split-level home. Another agent brought out a plastic container loaded with items.
Brooks said the search warrant and affidavit are sealed and wouldn’t be opened until charges were filed out of the warrant.
The 46-year-old house has been owned by Edgar and Robin Cajigal since 1997. A van with a rear window emblem reading “Estados Unidos Mexicanos” (“U.S. Mexicans’’) was in the driveway.
Edgar Cajigal said he used to live there with his family but has been renting the house for about three years. Cajigal, who now lives in Jackson Township, said he knew nothing about the raid.
He said the renters always have paid on time, and he’s heard no complaints from neighbors. He said he didn’t know Tejada-Sanchez.
Neighbors who didn’t want to be identified said they noticed a lot of activity at the Maurine Drive house in the past year, with vehicles stopping in front of the house and quickly leaving.
“We knew something suspicious was happening,” one neighbor said.
“I’m glad they did something.”
mferenchik@dispatch.com