Boyz in the hood: Amazing image of illegal immigrant hiding next to engine as gang is busted for smuggling 1,000 people across the Mexican border.
Smugglers tried to avoid detection by recruiting non-Spanish-speaking African-American drivers.
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
UPDATED: 15:05 GMT, 3 February 2012
Customs officers have arrested five men in connection with a people-smuggling ring that used vehicles adapted with ingenious secret compartments to smuggle over 1,000 of illegals into the US. Immigrants paid between $2,000 and $4,000 dollars to cram themselves into tiny spaces next to V8 engines or to be locked into the trunks of cars during some of the hottest times of the year. In an attempt not to arouse suspicion, the gang used non-Spanish-speaking African-Americans recruited from poor areas of Los Angeles to drive the vehicles across the border near San Diego.
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| Busted: Customs officers have arrested five men believed to be members of a gang that smuggled hundreds of immigrants into the US in secret compartments built into vehicles |
Claude Arnold, a special agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said: 'We estimate about 1,000 people were smuggled across the border during the time of the investigation.
Maria Lopez-Diaz, 60, and three others were arrested Thursday on counts related to the transportation of illegal immigrants in special compartments and the trunks of cars, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The ring coordinated with international smugglers to pick-up illegal immigrants once they crossed the border and transport them to Los Angeles, officials said. Lopez-Diaz recruited poor black drivers from South Los Angeles hoping they would not rouse the suspicion of authorities near the border.
The drivers' inability to communicate with the immigrants also meant they had limited information about the broader smuggling scheme, officials said. The drivers were paid between $300 and $800 for each of the dozens of people they transported from the border to Los Angeles each month in 2010.
'Criminal organizations are always looking for ways to evade detection by law enforcement, said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of ICE homeland security investigations in Los Angeles.
Stitch up: This photograph of a stowaway who was discovered sewn into the upholstery of
a van seat was released last year. It is not known whether it was the work of the same gang
Another file picture released by the Customs and Border patrol shows a woman
hidden behind the dashboard of a car on the US Mexico border in 2001
'This particular organization figured out, hey, what if we used African Americans as drivers? They might be likely to draw less attention.' 'Ultimately, of course, it didn't work,' he said.
Lopez-Diaz, two relatives and a suspected driver appeared in federal court Thursday afternoon. Another suspected driver remains at large. Lopez-Diaz was being held without bail. The five defendants were indicted last month on one charge of conspiracy. Lopez-Diaz and her 35-year-old son-in-law Juan Eduardo Baltazar are also charged with transporting illegal immigrants and immigrant harboring. Bobby Johnson, a 67-year-old driver from Los Angeles, is also charged with transporting illegal immigrants, officials said. Johnson is being held on $25,000 bond.
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| Double trouble: These two immigrants were discovered in a hidden compartment built into the floor of a car in June 2010. Again it is not known whether the same gang was involved |
Messages seeking comment were left for the defendants' attorneys Thursday afternoon. Baltazar's attorney Michael Belter said he has not yet received information about the case. His initial hearing was continued until next week. Immigration officials began investigating in January 2010 when border patrol agents reported seeing a rising number of African-American drivers with illegal immigrants hidden in the trunks of their cars. Typically, smugglers who bring illegal immigrants from Mexico use Spanish-speaking drivers, Arnold said.
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