Tag Archives: hostage taking

HSI Busts Alien Smuggling Ring

December 14, 2012blogalien harboring, alien smuggling, arrest, criminal alien, hostage taking, human smuggling, human trafficking, ICE< HSI, illegal alien, illegal immigration, PheonixAlex Meyerovich

Three Mexican men face federal charges following their arrest Friday, December 7, 2012, at a West Valley drop house discovered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Francisco Javier Astorga-Velarde, 22, Jose Pedro Soto-Valdez, 32, and Noel Galdinez-Marmolejo, 32, appeared in federal court Monday, December 10, 2012, where they were charged in a federal complaint with conspiring to harbor illegal aliens.

HSI special agents were first alerted to the drop house Dec. 5 after a woman contacted HSI Atlanta to report that a man was demanding she pay him $4,000 or he would kill her niece, who was allegedly being held hostage in a drop house in Phoenix. HSI Atlanta alerted HSI Phoenix special agents, who worked around the clock to develop information on the possible location of the drop house. By the morning of Friday, December 7, 2012, special agents had sufficient reason to believe the woman was being held in a residence on West Highland Avenue.

When special agents and officers from the Phoenix Police Department responded to the house, they observed the defendants fleeing out the back door. The defendants ran back inside after seeing police. Special agents approached the back door and called to the occupants of the house to come outside. The defendants complied and were taken into custody. Fearing for the safety of the people inside, special agents entered the home and discovered 14 smuggled aliens, including the niece of the woman who alerted authorities. Special agents subsequently obtained a federal search warrant for the residence and discovered two 9 mm handguns inside.

According to the criminal complaint, Astorga-Velarde served as the “boss” of the house. He allegedly hit two male victims in the face with a gun and called the wife of one of the men, threating to kill her husband if she did not pay his smuggling fee. Astorga-Velarde is also accused of threatening a female alien with sexual assault and claiming he would cut her into pieces and throw her in the trash. The complaint alleges Galdinez-Marmolejo used a gun to hit one of the male victims on the head, face, hands and feet. Soto-Valdez allegedly beat the male victim with the guns and threatened to sexually assault, cut, kill or sell the female aliens in the house if their smuggling fees were not paid.

The investigation is ongoing and the defendants may face additional charges. The case is bei ng prosecuted by Lisa Jennis Settel of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona.

A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Since January, HSI has encountered 35 drop houses containing 436 illegal aliens in the metropolitan Phoenix area.

Mexican Nationals Plead Guilty to Human Trafficking, Hostage Taking, and Alien Harboring

December 5, 2012blogalien harboring, alien smuggling, criminal alien, extortion, guilty plea, hostage taking, HSI, human trafficking, ICE, illegal alien, Mexico, ransom paymentsAlex Meyerovich

Two Mexican nationals pleaded guilty Thursday, November 29, 2012, to their roles in an ongoing conspiracy to hold hostage and harbor smuggled aliens for ransom payments, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) offices in Houston, Washington, D.C., and Virginia; and Prince William County, Va., and Houston Police Departments.

Virgilio De la Torre-Santana, 27, and Aduato Aguilar-Lara, 34, pleaded guilty Nov. 29 before U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller. De La Torre-Santana pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit hostage taking; Aguilar-Lara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens.

On or about Aug. 17, family members and friends of two aliens who had been smuggled into the United States contacted local law enforcement in Prince William County, Va., to report receiving extortion calls demanding money for the aliens’ release. Family members wired money, which was received and picked up at various locations in Harris County, Texas. The two aliens were subsequently released and transported to Virginia.

After arriving in Virginia, the aliens contacted law enforcement to report being held hostage against their will at a location that was later identified as a residence located on Amblewood Drive in Houston. A few weeks later, special agents executed a search warrant at that location and encountered 26 illegal aliens, at least two of whom were juveniles held hostage inside the residence. Special agents also encountered and arrested De La Torre-Santana, Aguilar-Lara and a third defendant, Job Solis-Benito, 23, also a Mexican national.

According to the aliens, upon arrival in Houston, they were forced to undress and were informed they had been “sold” and would not be released until family members made payments to the men holding them hostage. While held hostage at the residence, victims reported they were held in their underwear, in locked rooms with boarded up windows and in deplorable conditions. The victims also indicated they were guarded by men constantly armed with a handgun. Victims reported they were not allowed to leave the residence until payment was sent for their release. Some victims said they were threatened with harm or death if payment was not received.

At the hearing on Thursday, November 29, 2012, De La Torre-Santana admitted he participated in the conspiracy to hold smuggled aliens hostage by making phone calls to relatives and friends of smuggled aliens, instructing them to send money via Western Union and/or Money Gram in exchange for the safe release of the aliens. He further admitted he recruited and paid other unindicted conspirators to pick up the money transfers at various locations within Harris County on his behalf.

Aguilar-Lara admitted to conspiring to harbor and conceal smuggled aliens inside the residence by providing the aliens with food, and by acting as a guard to ensure the aliens did not leave the residence until full payment for their release was received.

Sentencing for both De La Torre-Santana and Aguilar-Lara is scheduled for May 10. De La Torre-Santana faces up to life in prison; Aguilar-Lara faces up to 10 years imprisonment. Both also face a possible $250,000 fine.

The case against Solis-Benito is pending. He is charged with conspiring to commit hostage taking, hostage taking, conspiring to harbor illegal aliens, and harboring illegal aliens.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey N. MacDonald, Southern District of Texas, is prosecuting the case.

Two Criminal Aliens Sentenced for Alien Smuggling and Hostage Taking

September 27, 2012blogalien harboring, alien smuggling, arrest, CBP, criminal alien, harboring illegal aliens, hostage, hostage taking, HPD, HSI, ICE, illegal alien, sentencingAlex Meyerovich

An illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced Tuesday, September 25, 2012, to 36 months in prison for harboring illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Houston Police Department (HPD).

Carlos Martinez-Aguilar, 44, was sentenced Sept. 25 to three years in prison. Events leading to his arrest began Aug. 19, 2011, when the Houston Emergency Center received a 911 call at its operations facility from a subject who spoke only Spanish. The victim advised he was being held against his will at a house in Houston by alien smugglers who had been hired to smuggle him to an unspecified location in the United States. He claimed another person, later identified as Cesar Avila, 38, an illegal alien from Honduras, was armed with a handgun and had threatened to kill them. The victim indicated that he and others feared for their lives.

The 911 call was traced to a residence located on the 100 block of Jamaica Street in Houston by HPD officers. The building had no windows and the French doors on the north side of the residence had its glass panes covered with aluminum foil. Once inside, several people, later identified as hostages, began covertly pointing to Avila as the hostage taker and smuggler. Officers also discovered a semi-automatic handgun and a ledger detailing payments by the smuggling organization under the mattress where Avila was sitting.

Several of the aliens held hostage identified Martinez-Aguilar as having come into the building where they were being held, drinking beer with Avila prior to law enforcement arriving, and inquiring about the status of payments of smuggling fees. The victims indicated Martinez-Aguilar was not involved in abusing or threatening them and had provided them food and blankets. Officers discovered Martinez-Aguilar had been living in the larger house in front of the building where the aliens were housed.

Another victim stated that prior to the arrival of the police, he and the others were being held against their will and threatened with death if they did not pay or arrange to have paid another $5,000 to the smugglers.

Martinez-Aguilar pleaded guilty Jan. 31. Avila was convicted by a Houston jury June 6 and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9, at which time he faces up to life in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Searle and Doug Davis, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.