Three Arrested In ICE Raid On Alleged Immigrant Smuggling

Three Arrested In ICE Raid On Alleged Immigrant Smuggling
POSTED: 10:22 am PST February 28, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- Three people who allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal immigrants a month into the Los Angeles area were under arrest Thursday, according to Customs and Immigration Enforcement.
Francisco Andres Pedro, 35, of Guatemala, Elvira Bartolo Sebastian, 37, and Juana Domingo Juan, 39, both of Guatemala, were arrested Wednesday during an ICE raid.
Three other suspects are also in custody. Francisco Andres Francisco, 39, of Guatemala, is being held in Pennsylvania; Juan Jimenez-Pascual, 23, of Guatemala, is being held in Utah; and Henry Rodriguez-Sanchez, 27, is being held in Pennsylvania.
Sebastian is the wife of Francisco Andres Francisco.
The ringleaders are believed to be Francisco Andres Francisco, Francisco Andres Pedro and Francisco Pedro Francisco, who is being sought along with six accomplices.
Authorities called the operation the Francisco ring because the three leaders are all named Francisco.
ICE began investigating the ring in May 2005 when the Los Angeles Police Department found two smuggling "drop houses" in a 24-hour period in South Los Angeles that were occupied by more than 140 illegal immigrants.
The investigation uncovered an organization run by Guatemalan nationals that provided housing and transportation to Los Angeles for illegal immigrants who already had been smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border to Phoenix, ICE reported.
The illegal immigrants were held in drop houses in Los Angeles and in Lancaster before being driven to other cities nationwide, ICE reported.
The ring's clients -- primarily foreign nationals from Central America -- paid the organization $1,200 to $3,700 each for the domestic part of their journey, ICE reported.
"This probe has dealt a serious blow to one of the largest human smuggling operations uncovered on the West Coast in recent years," said Jennifer Silliman, deputy special agent in charge of ICE investigations in Los Angeles.
"Based on our investigation, we suspect this ring was transporting more than 100 illegal aliens a week into this area," Silliman said.
"The human smuggling trade is a ruthless, greed-driven enterprise that puts communities at risk and generates billions of dollars in illicit proceeds," Silliman said. "That is why attacking and dismantling these organizations is one of ICE's top enforcement priorities."
During yesterday's raids, ICE agents served warrants at several residences in Los Angeles and Lancaster, and also collected evidence at the San Francisco 99 Cent Store on South Main Street in Los Angeles, which GAs otnad "y Francisco Andres Francisco and his wife.
The business allegedly served as a staging area for immigrants being transported in vans and SUVs to cities across the country. Among items seized were smuggling-client registers commonly known as "pollo" books," ICE reported.
One of the suspects, Pedro, was expected to make his first appearance this morning in federal court in Los Angeles.