INS agents bust alleged smugglers

Andrew Glazer

WEST SIDE -- Six Costa Mesa residents have been charged with allegedly

helping smuggle undocumented immigrants across the U.S. border for a fee,

officials from the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Immigration and Naturalization Services officers made the arrests near

19th Street and Placentia Avenue on Monday.

Josephina Cruz-Ibarra, Catalina Ramirez-Reyes, Idolina Ramirez-Reyes,

Miguel Plancorte-Sanchez, Rito Arzante-Picasso and Armando Roman-Flores

allegedly smuggled dozens of Mexican citizens from the U.S.-Mexico border

to Costa Mesa, said William M. Crawford, an agent from the INS

anti-smuggling unit.

The undocumented immigrants allegedly crossed the border with the help of

three guides, or “coyotes,” Crawford said in the report.

On several occasions, the suspects used a red Chevrolet Suburban and two

blue vans to transport the immigrants, sometimes concealing them under a

blanket, to a home at 724 1/2 West 19th St., the report said.

According to the report, all of the suspects are themselves undocumented

immigrants except for Catalina Ramirez-Reyes, who owns the home.

The alleged smugglers collected a $1,200 fee from each immigrant at the

home on 19th Street, the report said.

Earlier this month, Crawford -- who has observed the home since late last

year -- saw one man try to flee from a van stuffed with approximately 10

other passengers.

Crawford said he believed the man was trying to escape without paying the

alleged smugglers. The driver of the van and a passenger who was seated

in the front seat snatched the man by his hair and shirt collar and

shoved him into the home, the report said.

On Jan. 18, Crawford and Agent Manuel Uribe interviewed two men after

seeing them leave the 19th Street home. The men then waited for a bus at

20th Street and Placentia Avenue.

According to the report, one of the men, Gervasio Cruz-Noguez, of Vera

Cruz, Mexico, told the officers that three guides helped him and 16 other

immigrants illegally cross the border.

He said the group walked for six hours until they found a van waiting for

them on a highway.

“He said the group was ordered by two individuals who were already in the

van to get in, shut up and lay down in the back,” Crawford said in the

report.

When Cruz-Noguez and the others arrived at the 19th Street home, people

inside ordered them to come inside and be quiet, he told Crawford.

Cruz-Noguez told Crawford there were 10 other smuggled immigrants in the

room. Approximately 30 minutes later, Cruz-Noguez said a woman came in

and told him he was free, since he had paid the smuggling fee.

Five of the alleged smugglers are being held without bond in criminal

custody. The courts are still deciding the bond status of Catalina

Ramirez-Reyes, who is approximately eight months pregnant.

Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Feb. 8 at the U.S. District Court

in Santa Ana. An arraignment has been set for Feb. 14.