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In The Press -- Crime/Organized Crime

U.S. Launches Major Fight Against Immigration Document Fraud
By Jane Morse, International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, April 6, 2006
       U.S. law enforcement agencies are teaming up for an all-out fight against document fraud and immigration benefit fraud.
       At an April 5 press conference, U.S. officials announced the formation of multi-agency Document and Benefit Fraud Task Forces in 11 cities: Atlanta; Boston; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Los Angeles; New York; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Washington.
       Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Julie Myers said the task forces will target both individuals and sophisticated criminal organizations involved in multimillion-dollar criminal schemes to produce and sell fraudulent documents.
       Read the full story.

Attorney General Calls Law Enforcement Key to Immigration Reform
By Jane Morse, International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, April 4, 2006
       Enforcement is a critical part of President Bush's proposal for comprehensive immigration reform, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington during an April 4 speech.
       He said that a reasonable immigration strategy would not succeed without enforcement designed to discourage employers from hiring workers out of status. He also said that illegal immigrants who do choose to enroll in President Bush's proposed temporary worker program should incur some sort of penalty for having violating the law. He called for a monetary fine and a requirement to pay back taxes.
       Read the full story.

"Snakehead" Sister Ping Sentenced to 35 Years in U.S. Prison
Agence France Presse, Dateline New York, March 16, 2006
       One of the most infamous human smugglers in recent times has been sentenced to 35 years in a U.S. prison.
        Cheng Chui Ping -- better known in Manhattan's Chinatown as "Sister Ping" -- is perhaps best known for her multi-million dollar operation involving the "Golden Venture," a rusty old ship crammed with Chinese illegal immigrants that ran aground off New York's Rockaway Beach in 1993. Ten people drowned.
       Ping was convicted in June 2005 on charges that included conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, money laundering and trafficking in ransom proceeds.

Cannabis Farms
The Times, March 16, 2006
       Scotland Yard is targeting a network of cannabis farms run by Vietnamese gangs. Illegal immigrants are forced to tend the farms, which produce the powerful version of the drug known as "skunk," in order to pay off their debts to their smugglers.

People-Smuggler Campaigns in El Salvador
By Marcos Aleman, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Cara Sucia, El Salvador, March 6, 2006
       Narciso "Chicho" Ramirez has spent time in prison for smuggling hundreds of Salvadorans into the United States, but he's still a hero at home and running for mayor in "a district where nearly everyone heads to the United States to work at some point, and where four bank branches mostly handle money the migrants send home," this article says.
       El Salvador survives on the billions of dollars sent home by the 2.5 million Salvadorans living in the United States; more than 300,000 of those migrants are there illegally.
       "Instead of spending so much money to eradicate the trafficking of illegals to the United States, that money should be used to create more jobs in the country," Ramirez says.

Asia-Pacific Corruption Net
The Advertiser, March 1, 2006
       The man who was the head of the fraud and anti-corruption squad in Papua New Guinea is now a fugitive accused of taking bribes from Asian people smugglers.
       Three warrants have been issued for the arrest of Chief Superintendent Awan Sete, who allegedly receiving free accommodation and a car for dealing with suspected people smugglers.

Rising Tide of Border Crime and Violence: Brazen Drug Criminals Now Smuggle People
By Kris Axtman, The Christian Science Monitor, Dateline Houston, Texas, February 15, 2006
       Violent incidents are rising dramatically along the U.S.-Mexico border and drug traffickers are becoming more brazen and expanding their operations to include the lucrative people-smuggling business.
       Increased U.S. law enforcement and Mexican President Vicente Fox's declared war on drug cartels is making drug criminals more desperate and more violent, according to this article.
       Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said there has been an over 100 percent increase in the last fiscal year in border violence aimed at U.S. Border Patrol agents. In this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the Border Patrol has recorded 192 assaults against its officers.
       Some expert observers fear that the smugglers will team up with terrorists trying to enter the United States.
       The Bush administration is responding with a call for a 6 percent increase for the Department of Homeland Security, which would include 1,500 more Border Patrol agents, 6,700 new beds in detention facilities, and a significant increase in the number of cameras, sensors, and surveillance equipment along the border.

U.S., Canada Break Human Smuggling Ring
By Sarah Karush, The Associated Press, Dateline Windsor, Ontario, February 14, 2006
       U.S. and Canadian authorities broke up a human smuggling ring and intercepted over 100 illegal immigrants, most from Asian and Easter European counties.
       The smugglers allegedly had forced some migrants to hang on the sides of freight trains or be stuffed in car trunks to get across the Canadian-U.S. border.
       The migrants face deportation. Most were trying to get from Toronto to New York City. The arrests were made in Toronto, Windsor and Michigan as a result of a two-year investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Canada Border Services Agency. The people charged include residents of the Detroit area, Windsor, Toronto, Albion and Vicksburg, Mich., and Rockford, Ill.

Two Reputed Migrant Smugglers Wounded in Shootout with Police in Southern Mexico
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, February 13, 2006
       Mexican police wounded two suspected people smugglers and arrested 15 undocumented migrants from Central America on February 13 following a highway chase and gun battle.
       One of those arrested was a Guatemalan; the other from Chiapas.

MS-13 Smugglers Deemed Threat to U.S. Field Agents
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, January 13, 2006
       The Department of Homeland Security is warning its Border Patrol agents that human smugglers, angry about increased security along the U.S.-Mexico border, may retaliate by hiring members of the violent Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, street gang to kill law enforcement officers.
       The FBI estimates there may be anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 MS-13 members in the United States. Most operate in Los Angeles, Virginia, Maryland and New York. Another 50,000 may be active in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, according to the FBI.

Man Sentenced to 24 Years in Railcar Deaths Case
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Houston, Texas, November 22, 2005
       Juan Fernando Licea-Cedillo was sentenced November 21 to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the train car deaths of 11 illegal immigrants found in Iowa in 2002.
       Prosecutors said Licea-Cedillo led an international smuggling ring from January 2000 through February 2003, charging up to $1,000 for each client.
       On June 15, 2002, 11 illegal immigrants -- most from Central America -- were locked into a grain hopper in Harlingen and shortly thereafter died of dehydration and hypothermia. Their rail car ended up in a storage facility near Oklahoma City for four months. It wasn't until the car was sent to Denison, Iowa, that a cleaning crew discovered the remains. The victims were ultimately identified through DNA tests.

Gang Held Over Smuggling 100,000 Turks Into Britain
By Jason Bennetto, The Independent, October 12, 2005
       British law enforcement, in an investigation code named Bluesky, arrested eight suspected leaders of a human trafficking gang that is thought to have smuggled up to 100,000 Turkish people into Britain in the past few years.
       The illegals paid their smugglers between US $5260 to US $8770 to be smuggled to Britain, where most took low-paying menial jobs in Turkish communities.

Man Sentenced to 40 Years for Abducting Illegal Aliens from "Drop Houses" and Holding them for Ransom
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, News Release, August 23, 2005
       A human smuggler was sentenced to 40 years in prison, one of the longest sentences ever imposed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
       Mexican national Felipe Mendoza-Granados was convicted of stealing illegal aliens from a human smuggling ring and holding them for ransom.
       See the full press release.

Branded in a World of Gang Warfare
By Sudarsan Raghavan, Karen Brulliard and Fulvio Cativo, The Washington Post, August 22, 2005
and
Dreams Run Into Reality of Uproar
By Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer, North Carolina, August 21, 2005
       Law abiding Latinos living in the United States are finding they are suffering for the sins of their illegal and law-breaking brethren.
       "As Latino gangs expand their influence in Maryland and Virginia, the consequences have rippled through the region's Latino communities," according to the Washington Post. "Many young people feel anger, humiliation and even self-loathing at the hands of those who assume that they are criminals. Parents struggle with puro miedo -- pure fear -- that their children will join or be harmed because they resist recruitment (into gangs)."
       In North Carolina, deaths due to a few illegal immigrants who were driving while drunk are creating growing resentments.
       Angeles Ortega-Moore, director of the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte, North Carolina, is quoted as saying Latinos are getting "mixed signals" from American society: "They want us to be here to work, but a couple bad dudes do something bad and the rest of us are paying for it...."

Third Guilty Plea Comes in Texas-Based Visa Fraud Scam
International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, August 15, 2005
       U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced a third guilty plea by a suspect connected to an international scheme to issue fraudulent visas.
       Horacio Golfarini pleaded guilty August 12 to charges stemming from a scheme in which he and associates secured visas for Chinese nationals based on false information about business and employment connections that purportedly awaited the Chinese when they entered the United States.
       Full story.

Hundreds Held in Anti-Gang Crackdown
By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times, Dateline Washington, August 2, 2005
       U.S. law enforcement officials have arrested 582 alleged gang members, most of whom will probably be deported on immigration violations.
       U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the latest arrests, part of Operation Community Shield, were made during a two-week period in July. The arrests took place throughout the United States.
       Since February this year, 1,057 arrests have been made in the anti-gang effort. Of those arrested, 950 were illegal immigrants who are subject to being removed from the United States.
       See the full transcript of Chertoff's press conference.

Mexican Police Break Up Human Smuggling Ring
Agence France Presse, Dateline Mexico City, August 1, 2005
       Mexican authorities have arrested 101 undocumented immigrants and broke up a smuggling operation that moved people illegally into the United States.
       Most of the illegals were from Nicaragua and Honduras; others were from Brazil and Africa.
       The Mexican government says that each year 200,000 people from other countries use Mexico as a transit country to reach the United States.

Smuggler Found Guilty
By Patricia Hurtado, Newsday, June 23, 2005
and
New York Woman Convicted of Human Smuggling
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline New York, June 22, 2005
and
Charges vs. Big Sister Ping
New York Daily News, June 23, 2005
       Cheng Chui Ping -- better known as "Sister Ping" -- was convicted in a U.S. Court on June 22 of operating a global immigrant-smuggling ring.
       Ping is said to have become a multimillionaire by smuggling thousands of illegal immigrants, many of them from China's Fujian province. She is said to be responsible for the Golden Venture, the run-down cargo ship that ran aground in June 1993 off Rockaway Beach in the borough of Queens. Ten illegal immigrants drowned trying to swim to shore.
       The 56-year-old former businesswoman of Chinatown, New York, was found guilty of: conspiracy -- participating in international human smuggling and hostage-taking operations; money laundering -- wiring $30,00 to smuggle four people from China; and, trafficking in ransom proceeds -- receiving money from families of illegal immigrants as payment for their release.
       Ping was found not to be guilty of money laundering by wiring $60,000 to Thailand to smuggle 300 people from China. Jurors failed to reach a verdict on a charge that Pink held 130 illegal immigrants hostage that were off loaded from a boat and taken to Boston and then New York.
       Hurtado writes: "The trial provided a rare view into the world of snakeheads, or illegal immigrant smugglers, who preyed on Chinese nationals, dominating them through gangland muscle."
       According to Hurtado, two snakeheads employed by Ping -- Weng Yu Hui and Guo Liang Qi -- testified that her operations smuggled immigrants out of China to Hong Kong, Thailand, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Africa and then on to New York City. Ping, the snakeheads said, recruited violent Fuk Ching gang members to hold the illegal immigrants hostage until their smuggling fees were paid.

Chinese Family Accused of Smuggling Illegal Workers
By Kristen Hays, Associated press Newswires, Dateline Houston, Texas, June 22, 2005
       Members of a Chinese family were arrested June 22 for smuggling illegal immigrants from Mexico to work in the three restaurants they own in the Houston area.
       Hin Khai "Papa" Phu, his son Alan Phu, Kiu Tai "Mama" Phu and Lisa Phu were all charged with conspiracy and eight counts of harboring illegal immigrants for financial gain.
       The illegal immigrants worked six 12-hour days a week and were paid $2.78 per hour less a smuggling fee. U.S. minimum wage is $5.15 per hour.
       The illegal immigrants were forced to live in a dormitory-style room in the Phu house and were forbidden to leave. Their one day off was spend doing yard work and cleaning the Phu home.

Illegal Immigrants Pay Most for U.S. and Canada
Agence France Presse, Dateline Strasbourg, June 22, 2005
       Illegal immigrants pay human smugglers the most to get to the United States (up to U.S. $100,000) and Canada (up to U.S. 60,000), according to a report released by the Council of Europe.
       The prices demanded by human smugglers depend on the nationality of the migrant, the risks, the number of countries which must be traversed, and the number of illegal immigrants involved in the trip, according to the report.
       See Chapter III, Proceeds from Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migration/Human Smuggling of the June 10, 2005 report produced by the Financial Action Task Force entitled, Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Typologies 2004-2005.
       The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, has 46 member countries. Among its goals is defending human rights.

Nearly 200 Illegal Immigrants Arrested Across New England States
By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Newswires, June 15, 2005
and
A State-By-State List of Illegal Immigrants Arrested in a Sweep
Associated Press Newswires, June 15, 2005
       Federal, state and local law-enforcement officers arrested nearly 200 criminal illegal immigrants in a six-day undercover sweep across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
       Those arrested had been ordered deported and had served prison or jail sentences for committing crimes such as attempted murder, rape, child molestation and arson.

Sister Ping: Living Buddha of Shengmei Village
By Zhang Huiyu, The World Journal, published in Chinese in Whitestone, New York, May 23, 2005
       Sister Ping's fellow villagers in Shengmei spoke highly of her as their living Buddha. She is currently under trial in New York for human smuggling. Amid gratitude and sadness, villagers expressed their willingness to share her imprisonment each for one year, in an effort to pay back the help she has allegedly provided to get their relatives out of China.
       Ping, the oldest of three children of the Zheng family, used to live at 398, a three-storied house within the village, which is now empty. She migrated to Hong Kong with her husband when she was in her early twenties.

Sister Ping on Trial, Villagers Voice Support
By Zhang Huiyu, The World Journal, published in Chinese in Whitestone, New York, May 22, 2005
       Sister Ping, the notorious snakehead from mainland China, has a support group in her home village of Shengmei, Ting Jiang Township, Fuzhou, at a time when she is being tried as a criminal in the federal court in New York.
       Her fellow villagers gathered on May 21 to offer moral support for Ping. A petition will be filed to the judge of this case in New York via a representative from Shengmei. They described Sister Ping as a living Buddha. Ninety percent of Shengmei villagers now residing overseas were brought out of the country with the help of Ping.

Smuggling of Immigrants Is Detailed as Trial Starts
By Julia Preston, New York Times, May 17, 2005
        The notorious "Sister Ping" went on trial May 16 in the Federal District Court in Manhattan in New York City on charges of kidnapping and hostage taking.
       Chen Chui Ping is the woman suspected of being responsible for masterminding the smuggling of hundreds of illegal Chinese immigrants into the United States. She allegedly purchased the Golden Venture, the freighter that caught international attention when it ran aground on a beach off Queens in 1993; 10 illegal aliens drowned while trying to swim ashore.
       Federal prosecutors say Ping successfully moved hundreds of illegal immigrants in the cargo holds of ships and kept them hostage in New York warehouses until they paid her fees -- up to $40,000 each.
       Ping's lawyer, Lawrence Hochheiser, argued that Ping's only involvement with people smuggling was incidental to her underground but legal banking house.

Two D.C. Law Firms and Four Individuals Indicted for Wide-Ranging Immigration Fraud Scheme
News release, U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement, May 12, 2005
       The law offices of I. Jay Fredman, P.C. and Sergei Danilov and Associates, LLC, both in Washington, D.C., have been indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland for conspiracy to commit immigration fraud in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia.
       Between April 2001 and the present, the two law firms and four individuals allegedly used fraudulent means to obtain work visas for alien clients who were charged as much as $22,000.
       See the entire press release.

Gang Follows Illegal Aliens; MS-13 Spreads To Small Towns
By Jon Ward, The Washington Times, May 5, 2005
       The FBI says the violent Salvadoran gang known as MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is following the migratory routes of illegal aliens across the United States.
       The FBI regards the MS-13 as the new Mafia and is focussing its efforts to suppress this dangerous criminal element via the newly-established National Gang Intelligence Center now housed at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
       Robert Clifford, director for the FBI task force targeting the MS-13, is quoted as saying: "The migrant moves and the gang follows. If you follow the construction trade, this is where a lot of these immigrants go." He said illegal immigrants are attracted to construction and meat-packing jobs and often house younger relatives who may be involved in a gang. "That's why you find them in places like North Carolina," he said.
       Chicago Police Superintendent Philip J. Cline is quoted as saying that street gangs like the MS-13 are more violent than the Mafia ever was. According to Cline, the Mafia killed more than 1,100 people from 1919 to 2004, but street gangs have killed 1,276 people from 2000 to 2004.
       The FBI does not believe the MS-13 has ties to al Qaeda, but says the gang does have cooperative arrangements with the Mexican mafia.
       See more on the FBI's anti-gang strategy.

ICE Fighting Chinese Human Smugglers
Newsletter: Inside ICE, Volume 2, Issue 8, April 11, 2005, Dateline Los Angeles, California
       Officials for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are tracking down the organized crime groups suspected of having smuggled 29 Chinese men found in shipping containers aboard the NYK Artemis, a Panamanian-registered vessel that arrived in Los Angeles April 2.
       Kevin Jeffery, ICE Los Angeles Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge, is quoted as saying: "We've had four container smuggling operations in L.A. in the last year. None of the aliens' final destinations was the L.A. area. They were all heading east. We had a case last year where the aliens were going to remain in the container and continue by rail to Chicago."
       This article also reports on the deportation to China of Chong Gui Chen, who completed 121 months in a U.S. federal prison on a kidnapping conviction. Chen was involved in smuggling 200 Chinese into the United states in 1993.
       See the full story.

Department Clarifying Rule On Immigrants
By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2005
       The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is considering a new policy which would direct officers who see suspects they believe to be felons in the United States illegally to call their supervisors for a check with immigration officials.
       This would be a change to a rule -- Special Order 40 -- instituted in 1979 which prevents LAPD officers from inquiring about a person's immigration status. Special Order 40 has been criticized by some officers who say it prevents them from arresting convicted felons who have illegally reentered the United States after being deported to their home countries.
       The Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Department has already changed its policy and now checks the immigration status of foreign-born inmates in county jail and turns illegal immigrants over to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
       According to authorities, felons reentering the United States after being deported are becoming a major problem. Of those illegal immigrants arrested from May through December 2004 along the Mexican border, 30,000 already had criminal records or warrants for arrest. In addition, the war on terrorism has forced local police departments to consider more cooperative relationships with federal immigration officials.
       Some worry about what this change in policy might do to police efforts to build trust in the community, but LAPD Captain Mike Downing is quoted as saying: "I don't think the Hispanic family here illegally would care if we go after violent criminals who are preying on their community."

LAPD Spreading Expertise in Dealing with Immigrants
By Francisco Villegas, EFE News Service, Dateline Los Angeles, March 29, 2005
       With its unrivaled experience in dealing with Hispanic immigrants, the Los Angeles Police Department is now advising other police departments throughout the country on how to deal with Hispanic communities.
       Villegas writes: "In the last six months, the LAPD has assisted law-enforcement agencies from towns in Iowa, Wisconsin, Montana, North Carolina and Vermont that are beginning to see a surge in their Latino populations."
       Many illegal immigrants are reluctant to go to the police when they are victims of crime. Captain Al Michelena, who is in charge of the advisory program, is quoted as saying: "We're not immigration. We're not interested in people's legal status and we have seen that when they realize we're not a threat, but rather a help, we gain their trust and there's more cooperation between the two sides."
       Of special concern is the exploitation many immigrants suffer in this country. According to the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), every year more than 10,000 workers live in virtual slavery, subjected to degradation and threats by their employers in the United States.

China Busts People-Smuggling Ring
Agence France Presse, Dateline Beijing, March 29, 2005
       Chinese police arrested nine men in southern Guangdong province for operating a human smuggling ring that was helping 88 illegal immigrants get to the United States and Europe. The illegals were from Jaingmen City.
       One of the gang's leaders -- Zhen Mouhong -- was caught with 54 passports and other fake documents. More than U.S. $18 million was involved, according to the China Daily.

Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Migrant Torture Case
Associated press Newswires, Dateline Tucson, Arizona, March 29, 2005
       Hector Jesus Soria, 21, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for harboring illegal immigrants and torturing one.
       This report says: "Deputies said that in November 2003, Soria pulled out two of the victim's teeth, cut him on the face and chest, pried his toenails with a screwdriver and threatened to castrate him."

Kingpin Sentenced to Prison
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 26, 2005
       An international human-smuggling kingpin based in Los Angeles and Seattle was sentenced to three years in prison for smuggling and harboring illegal immigrants, most of them South Korean women.
       Young Pil "Ricky" Choi, 29, is said to have moved as many as 100 illegal aliens each month into the United States across the Canadian border. Most ended up in Los Angeles to work as prostitutes.

Wal-Mart Settles Illegal Immigrant Case for $11M-Lawyers
Dow Jones International News, Dateline Washington, March 18, 2005
       Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $11 million in what is being billed as a "landmark settlement" regarding federal allegations that the company used illegal immigrants to clean its stores.
       Federal authorities uncovered cases in the last 8 years involving at least 250 illegal immigrants who worked seven days or nights a week without overtime pay or injury compensation. The illegal immigrants came from 18 different nations, including Mexico, Czech Republic, Mongolia, Brazil, Russia, and Poland. Most worked for subcontractors paid by Wal-Mart to clean the stores; 10 were employed by Wal-Mart.
       Wal-Mart employs 1.2 million domestic workers in 700 stores nationwide.
       See the press release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Envorcement entitled Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Agrees to Pay a Record $11 Million to ICE to Settle Nationwide Worksite Enforcement Investigation (PDF).

100 Members of Immigrant Gang Are Held
By Charlie LeDuff, The New York Times, Dateline Los Angeles, March 15, 2005
       Across the United States in the last month, federal immigration authorities have arrested 103 members of the Mara Salvatrucha, an extremely violent street gang also known as the MS-13.
       Officer Frank Flores, a gang expert with the Los Angeles Police Department, is quoted as saying: "MS is not a gang, it's an army. Within the United States, these guys pose as much a threat to the well being of ordinary citizens as any foreign terrorist group."
       Originating in Los Angeles, the MS-13 is estimated to have tens of thousands of members nationwide. Many of the gang members are illegal immigrants, mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It is estimated that there are 80,000 to 100,000 criminal illegal immigrants in the United States.
       One problem in catching criminal illegal immigrants is that police departments in cities like Chicago, Denver, Houston, Miami and New York prohibit their law enforcement officers from asking a suspect about his immigration status. It is thought that law-abiding immigrants will be too frightened to report crimes if they fear deportation. This attitude, however, is slowly changing. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, is now sharing street intelligence with federal authorities.
       See the news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ICE Launches Operation Community Shield With the Arrest of 103 MS-13 Gang Members in Six U.S. Cities and the fact sheet on Operation Community Shield.

Europol Says Organised Crime Groups Diversifying
Reuters News, Dateline Amsterdam, January 18, 2005
       Organized crime groups are diversifying their criminal specialties, according to a recently completed study conducted by the European police body Europol.
       Mariano Simancas, Europol acting director, is quoted as having said in a statement: "The move away from a single type of criminal activity (e.g. drug trafficking) to diversification into multi-crime activities (e.g. drug trafficking, commodity smuggling and illegal immigration) is a continuing trend.... It is also worth highlighting that organised crime groups focus on facilitating illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings, because they consider this a low risk crime with a high profit."
       According to the Europol report, released on January 18, ethnic Albanian, Russian and Chinese criminal groups were the most widespread organized crime groups across the European Union.
       See the Europol news release and 2004 European Union Organised Crime Report.

Man Charged with Smuggling People in Tunnel
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Detroit, January 18, 2005
        A federal grand jury has indicted Wissam Abudayyeh, a Palestinian and legal resident of Canada of smuggling 17 Chinese citizens and an Albanian into the United States via an underwater train tunnel linking Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.
        In August 2004, another 22 Chinese nationals were caught with one Pakistani who attempted to cross the border aboard a train from Canada.

Supreme Court Bans Indefinite Detention of Illegal Immigrants
Agencies France-Presse, Dateline Washington, January 12, 2005
       The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on January 12 that the U.S. government may not detain illegal immigrants for more than six months.

Arrests Made in Case Involving Smuggling of Ecuadoreans, Chinese
By Eric Green, IIP Washington File Staff Writer, December 14, 2004
       Sixteen arrests have been made in a case that involved the smuggling of Ecuadorean and Chinese nationals into the United States, says the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
       See the full story.

Mexico Mounts Big Operations Against Gangs, Smugglers
EFE News Service, Dateline Mexico City, December 2, 2004
       Interior Minister Santiago Creel announced on December 2 that major police operations in Mexico snagged 7,000 illegal immigrants and 500 gang members, drug smugglers and people smugglers in a seven-day period.
       The crackdown involved 1,200 police, immigration agents and intelligence operatives with support from elements of the army and navy.

U.S. Indicts 51 Chinese Organized Crime Figures and Associates in Massive Coordinated Sweep
U.S. Department of Homeland Security news release
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
November 12, 2004
       Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the largest investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announced indictments targeting two powerful Chinese organized crime groups that had been operating in New York City.
       In a statement released November 12, ICE Special Agent Martin Ficke said an investigation of nearly two years has culminated in a major setback for two "vicious, violent, organized crime gangs." The charges against Lim Shang and Wang Shao Feng, the alleged leaders of these criminal enterprises, and 49 other defendants include attempted murder, conspiracy to take hostages, extortion, human smuggling, money laundering, and the operation of large-scale illegal gambling businesses.
       If found guilty, some of the accused could face up to 20 years in prison under the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law. The indictments also seek a total of $11 million in forfeiture of assets from 16 of the defendants charged with RICO offenses. See the full text.

New York Couple Pleads Guilty to Alien Smuggling Charges
News Release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), November 5, 2004
        A couple in eastern New York state has pleaded guilty to a variety of charges related to smuggling Peruvians into the United States and subjecting them to forced labor. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the pleas November 5 in a press release. See the full text.

Oldest Profession Is Still One of the Oldest Lures for Young Nigerian Women
By Somini Sengupta, The New York Times, Dateline Benin City, Nigeria, November 5, 2004
       This long feature story discusses the allure of the Italian sex industry to women in Benin City, an ancient walled town in southern Nigeria, not far from Lagos and the Gulf of Guinea. Dazzled by stories of great riches to be made, many Nigerian families actually encourage their women to be smuggled into Italy to work as prostitutes.
       Sengupta writes: "Many of the young women are going abroad with eyes wide open, and they are going by the scores, taking enormous risks, and taking on debts of up to $45,000, all because of the reputed success of those who have gone before them."
       The reality, however, is that all too often the young women are caught by Italian authorities, deported, and return home as paupers.
       Mrs. A.O. Abiodun, a former banker who now heads the regional office of the new National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, is quoted as saying: "In this state, this thing (going overseas as prostitutes) is deep in the society. It's a way of poverty alleviation."

Triads Milk $1.7 Million a Day from Porn -- Police Crack Down To Cut Flow of Cash into Prostitution, People Smuggling, Drugs, Extortion
By Peter Michael, South China Morning Post, November 3, 2004
       Chinese organized crime groups known as Triads are making an estimated $1.7 million per day -- or about $6 billion per year -- by selling hard-core pornography, much of it as pirated discs in Hong Kong's Mongkok black market.
       The 14K and Wo Shing Wo triads are believed to be largely responsible, and much of the money, Hong Kong police say, is being used to fund large-scale drug production and trafficking, people smuggling, prostitution and extortion rackets.

New Law Taking Aim at Smugglers
By Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Phoenix, August 31, 2004
       Arizona has enacted a new racketeering law that allows state prosecutors to seize the income, cars, houses and other assets of human smugglers who use wire transfer services.
       Although the federal government, which is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, already has the power to go after smugglers' assets, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard noted: "We felt it was time for local law enforcement to also bear part of that burden" in cracking down on human smuggling.
       Violent criminals have been increasingly attracted to the business of human smuggling, this article says. Billeaud writes: "Even though they may have already paid their bills to smugglers, illegal immigrants are often vulnerable to extortion attempts and other abuses."

Taiwan Captain Gets Death Sentence for Pushing Chinese Women Off Boat
Agence France Presse, Dateline Taipei, August 27, 2004
      Taiwan's supreme court upheld a death sentence for Wang Chung-hsiung, the boat captain convicted of drowning six mainland Chinese women.
      Wang and Ko Ching-sung, a crew member, pushed the women into the sea in August 2003 when their smuggling boat was spotted by a Taiwan's coast guard patrol. Ko has received a life sentence.
       Many mainland women are attracted to Taiwan's lucrative sex industry and attempt to reach the island via human smugglers.

U.S. Program Nets Mexican Illegals in Child-Sex Ring
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, July 30, 2004 and
Immigrants Accused of Child Sex Abuse
By Phillip Pina, St. Paul Pioneer Press, July 29, 2004
       Federal investigators working with Austin, Minnesota police arrested 10 illegal immigrants accused of having paid a woman to allow them to have sex with her 14-year-old female relative.
       The bust was part of "Operation Predator," an initiative of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeted at criminal sexual predators. Since the program began in July 2003, more than 3,300 illegal immigrants have been arrested nationwide for child sex abuse.

Past Efforts To Deter Illegal Immigrants Led to Conflict But Also Reduced Crime
By Anabelle Garay, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Douglas, Arizona, July 12, 2004
       According to this article, when California and Texas got tough on illegal border crossers, the problem moved to Arizona. Arizona cities like Douglas and Nogales became, in the 1990s, funnels for illegal immigrants finding their way into the United States.
       And with the increase of illegal immigrants came an increase in crime. "Illegal immigrants were raped or assaulted, while residents became victims of crimes of opportunity, such as smugglers stealing their cars and selling them in Mexico," Garay writes.
       Nogales police chief John Kissinger is quoted as saying: "Ninety percent of undocumented immigrants aren't committing state or local crimes. The problem we found was the other 10 percent, the coyotes and the people who take advantage of the border crossers."
       The onslaught of illegal immigrants damaged infrastructure and hurt Nogales' budget. "City leaders feared homeowners would leave and property values would tumble," Garay writes. Motorists in both Douglas and Nogales had to watch out for open manholes used by illegal immigrants entering the United States via the storm drains.
       Tougher controls in the towns, however, have now moved the problem to more rural areas of Arizona. Farmers and ranchers are finding their fences torn down by illegal immigrants or torn down by border patrol agents in hot pursuit of illegal immigrants. Their land is becoming littered with water jugs, plastic bags and other refuse left by illegal border crossers.

Man Dies in Struggle with Alleged Smuggler; Apparent Fight over Fee Ends in Deadly Crash
By Mike Glenn, Nancy Martinez, Peggy O'Hare, The Houston Chronicle, July 8, 2004
       Jose Lopez, an illegal immigrant, was thrown to the pavement from a van and killed when he balked at paying an extra $300 to his smuggler and the smuggler attempted to drive off with Lopez's brother.
       Joseph Weber, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge in Houston, is quoted as saying: "People pay a fee to get smuggled here, and when they arrive, their smuggler demands more money. This is the fifth case of human smuggling in Houston in the last two months that involved hostage taking."
       Police are looking for Rafael Flores Garcia, 37, who is believed responsible for Lopez's death.

ICE Breaks Fake Document Ring in Washington
Inside ICE, June 21-July 6, 2004
       Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the U.S. Secret Service arrested 21 illegal immigrants June 23-30 who were part of a fraudulent document ring operating in Washington, D.C.
       "Fraudulent identifications are an essential part of many criminal schemes, whether it be schemes to launch terrorist attacks or fraudulent financial schemes. Federal law enforcement agencies have adopted a zero tolerance policy for such fraudulent identifications and particularly for false document mills," this report says.
       For more information, see: www.ICE.gov

ICE Hits Smuggling Ring; Aliens Freed from Squalor Inside ICE, June 21-July 6, 2004
       Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested on June 21 in New York three Peruvians charged with smuggling and harboring illegal immigrants. They also freed 69 illegal immigrants who had been held as indentured servants in squalid conditions until they could pay off the $6,000 to $12,000 debts they owed to their smugglers.
       The three Peruvians, all members of the Ibanez family, allegedly had been obtaining U.S. tourist visas to smuggle other Peruvians into the United States. Then, using bogus documents, the family helped the illegal immigrants find jobs in factories and other businesses in Suffolk County, New York.
       For more information, see: www.ICE.gov

Sweeps Bring Charges of Money Laundering, Immigration Violations in New York Suburbs
By Frank Eltman, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Garden City, New York, July 6, 2004
       U.S. Federal authorities arrested 11 people on money laundering and immigration charges in raids on dozens of gas stations and mini-markets around Long Island. Most of those arrested are believed to be Turkish.
       It is believed that as much as $28 million dollars was laundered through the small businesses over the last several years.
       U.S. immigration officials also detained 57 suspected illegal immigrants who are believed to have been forced to work at gas stations to pay off their debts to their smugglers.

Malaysian Boss of Major Human Smuggling Syndicate Jailed in Singapore
Agence France Presse, Dateline Singapore, July 5, 2004
       Tay Boon Hua, a Malaysian believed to have controlled 80 percent of the people smuggling from southern Malaysia into Singapore, has been extradited from Malaysia and jailed in Singapore for a five-year term. Tay was also sentenced to 20 strokes of the cane.
       Tay allegedly smuggled, via motorized sampans, up to 1,000 illegal immigrants into Singapore since 1997. According to this report, Tay often dumped his clients into the sea about a mile away from Singapore's northern coastline and told them to swim the rest of the way. He charged his clients U.S. $1,200 for his services.
       Quoting The Straits Times, this report says that Tay's case "was the first time a foreigner had been extradited to Singapore and jailed without physically committing a crime within the nation's boundaries."

Egyptian Man Arrested on Human Smuggling Charges
By Curt Anderson, The Associated Press, Dateline Washington, July 2, 2004
       U.S. authorities have arrested Ashraf Ahmed Abdallah, described as one of the United States' "most wanted" human smugglers.
       Abdallah allegedly operated a ring that brought into the United States illegal immigrants from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. He has not, however, been linked to any movement of terrorists into the United States.
       Anderson writes: "The indictment says Abdallah and his associates would direct people seeking to reach the United States to travel to one of several Latin American countries, and from there to Guatemala. They would then be transported to America through Mexico in return for payments of thousands of dollars in smuggling fees."
       Abdallah was arrested July 2 at Miami International Airport while traveling from Ecuador to Egypt. If convicted, Abdallah could face up to 70 years in prison.

Immigrant Smugglers Become More Ruthless
By Rene Sanchez, The Washington Post, Dateline Los Angeles, June 28, 2004
       Better border controls have made human smuggling riskier, forcing human smugglers to charge higher prices for their services and grow ever more cunning as well as cruel, according to this article.
       Sanchez writes: "Human smuggling has become such a large, lucrative enterprise that other criminal gangs are muscling into the market by ambushing smugglers once they cross the border, kidnapping the immigrants and then charging higher prices for their release. Earlier this year, a gang in Los Angeles even planted one of its members in a group crossing over from Mexico and then hijacked the smuggling operation."
       Remote desert areas in Arizona have become attractive to smugglers. At one point this year, the U.S. Border Patrol was apprehending 2,500 illegal immigrants a day; a number that has dropped to about 1,600 per day in the state.
       Robert Bonner, commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, is quoted as saying: "I think we're getting a better grip on the problem. We are putting a lid on Arizona. That's the one door we need to slam shut."

A Model in Fighting People Smugglers; U.S. Officials in Los Angeles Want To Copy Phoenix's Approach to Countering Illegal Immigration"
By Hector Becerra, The Los Angeles Times, Dateline Phoenix, May 26, 2004
       Los Angeles officials are hoping to duplicate the successful measures adopted in Phoenix for controlling illegal immigrants. This article discusses why they may not succeed.
       In Phoenix, federal agents and the police department have developed an extremely cooperative relationship -- sharing information and quickly responding to each other's calls for help. And at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, U.S. Border Patrol officers are at each concourse scrutinizing crowds for suspected smugglers and their human cargo.
       In Phoenix, public concern is high over the violent crime associated with people smuggling -- not so in Los Angeles, this article says. For example, people living near the safe houses recently raided in L.A.'s Watts and Canoga Park said they saw no reason to report what they knew or suspected of the houses to the police.
       And, when Los Angeles police found the 88 illegal immigrants crowded into the Watts house, it took federal immigration agents hours to arrive at the scene.
       In Phoenix, immigrant neighborhoods are more inclined to report human smugglers to the police. In Los Angeles, there are vocal immigrant's rights groups that make tackling crimes related to illegal immigrants politically risky.

Preying on Human Cargo
By Michael Maiello and Susan Kitchens, Forbes, May 20, 2004
       This detailed article looks at the "shadowy contractors" who hook up illegal immigrants and arrange to get them jobs with service companies that offer cheap labor to corporate America.
       Specifically, this article discusses the case of Kenneth Clancy, who ran "Facilities Solutions," a janitorial contracting firm that allegedly employed Mexican illegal immigrants to clean Wal-Mart stores around the United States. It is estimated that Clancy's five cleaning operations generated revenues of $500,000 annually; a member of his cleaning crew mand $350 per week.
       It also looks at Cheng Chui Ping, known as "Sister Ping," who smuggled thousands of Chinese into the United States. Ping, now in jail, used gangs such as the Chinese "Fuk Ching" or the Vietnamese "Born to Kill" to manage newly arrived illegal immigrants and collect smuggling fees usually paid by relatives. Most of the illegal immigrants then spent years at below-minimum-wage jobs such as dishwashers to reimburse their families. It is believed that Sister Ping earned more than $30 million over the 15 years she engaged in people smuggling.
       Petr Pospisil, recruited people from his native Czech Republic, put them in low-paying jobs, and took as much as $2 per hour from every worker he placed in addition to charging them rent and uitlities for cramped living quarters he provided. Pospisil's profits are estimated to have been $100,000 per month.
       See the full story.

Chinese Waiter a Key Link for People Smugglers
By Simon de Bruxelles, The Times (London), May 19, 2004
       Police have nabbed Xing Cheng, a waiter at a Chinese restaurant in the Welsh university town of Aberystwyth, as a suspected human smuggler.
       Cheng earned $200 a week working as a waiter, yet over a period of just 20 months deposited more than 5 million pounds (U.S. $8.9 million) into 26 accounts at different banks.
       Cheng, who himself entered Britain illegally in 1999, allegedly worked as a "talented accountant" for Chinese human smugglers, sending payments back to criminal gangs in China when the illegal immigrants arrived in Britain. Those who failed to pay were "subject to violence and torture," de Bruxelles writes. "Others who paid late were charged 'extortionate' rates of interest."

On the Trail of the Chinese Snakeheads
By Kim Sengupta, The Independent (UK), May 10, 2004
       According to this article, at least 600,000 people enter the European Union illegally every year, and their tactics are getting more innovative.
       Sengupta writes: "As the authorities have tried to stem the flow, the traffickers have found different, more ingenious and increasingly risky routes. Two weeks ago, in the middle of some of worst of the mayhem in Iraq, 20 Chinese men from Fujian turned up in Fallujah en route to Europe. They were promptly kidnapped but then released by the Iraqi resistance, who seemed utterly perplexed by the turn of events."
       According to Sengupta, one of the most "exotic and powerful figures" to emerge among Chinese people smugglers is Jing Ping Chen, also known as "Little Sister Ping." She allegedly smuggled between 150,000 and 175,000 people, including the Dover shipment that killed more than 50 people, before being caught and imprisoned.
       Jing Ping Chen is no relation to Chen Chui Ping, "Big Sister Ping," who smuggled people from China to the United States and was responsible for the 1993 "Golden Venture" fiasco, in which ten illegal Chinese immigrants drowned when their rusty steamer ran aground off New York City. Big Sister Ping was arrested in Hong Kong in April 2000 and extradited to the United States to stand trial.
       Little Sister Ping arrived in Rotterdam from Fujian in 1997, and became the lover of one of the leaders of the city's 14K Triad gang. She is also said to have strong connections with the Communist Party in Fujian, which allowed her people smugglers, or "snakeheads," to obtain legitimate exit visas so that illegal immigrants could leave China by air.
       She and her organization were known for their extreme violence and cruelty. Sengupta writes: "On one occasion, her associates beat a man so savagely that his intestine was punctured. Another victim had fingers sliced off with a machete."
       Little Sister Ping was finally caught by the police when the girlfriend of one of the members of her smuggling gang gave information to the Dutch police. A Dutch court has sentence her to three years in prison. Her lover and business partner, "Peter," is still on the loose in the Netherlands.

Border Patrol Partnering With Crime Hot Line To Track Down Smugglers
By Arthur H. Rotstein, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Tucson, Arizona, April 29, 2004
       The Border Patrol is joining a local crime hotline known as 88-CRIME to track down smugglers bringing people and drugs into the United States.
       John Fitzpatrick, acting assistant chief patrol agent in the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, is quoted as saying: "We're not looking for people calling in saying there's illegal aliens walking down the road or driving down the road. We're looking for people who have some kind of institutional knowledge, maybe of an organization, or just suspicious activity in a neighborhood."
       The goal is to find "drop houses" used to harbor illegal immigrants while they are being transported cross-country.
       Gary Dhaemers, executive director of 88-CRIME, the tip line that has operated for more than 20 years for local law enforcement agencies, is quoted as saying: "We've found out than many of the illegal immigrants are being held in stash houses against their will.... We do not want to see anyone's human rights abused. And if we have information that can save some of these illegal immigrants from the desert or from the people that are using them as cargo to make money, then we believe that it's a good cause."

Immigrant Smuggling Thrives Near Border
By Rene Sanchez, The Washington Post, Dateline Los Angeles, April 23, 2004
and
House Crammed With Illegal Immigrants Raided in Watts
By Solomon Moore and Hector Becerra, The Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2004
       U.S. federal agents raided a "drop house" in Watts that contained 100 illegal immigrants crammed inside the 1,100 square foot bungalow. Most of the illegal immigrants were from Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador and were waiting for their families to pay their smugglers ransoms ranging from $1,500 to $9,000.
       Kevin Jeffery, a special agent for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is quoted by the Post as saying: "We were dumbfounded. The house was in complete squalor. People were just stacked on top of each other, with no room to move, no lights, and all the doors were chained. They had no idea where they were, or how long they would be there."
       Pistols, pellet guns and a machete were found in the house. Jeffery is quoted by the Times as saying: "I'm sure these were used to threaten and coerce people into obeying. This is a big business, alien smuggling. These people will go to extremes to get their money."
       Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for ICE in Southern California, is quoted by the Post as saying: "This area has always been a smuggling hub, but more and more criminal organizations are getting involved now. This has become a big, lucrative business. Some people think these smugglers are latter-day Robin Hoods, but that's a myth. They're getting more violent, and the fees they charge are escalating."
       Los Angeles police got a tip about the house from an individual who had been able to escape by paying off his smugglers and then telephoned authorities to report the situation at the house where his companions were imprisoned.

Keeping Watch for Surfboards, Kayaks in Border Operations
By Henri Brickey, Scripps Howard News Service, Dateline San Diego, April 12, 2004
       "Organized human smuggling rings are taking their trade from the heavily guarded fence line along the U.S.-Mexico border into the coastal waters of California's coast," writes Brickey.
       Illegal immigrants try to illegally enter the United States from Mexican waters using anything from surfboards to kayaks to small motorboats.
       To counter their efforts, the Marine Interdiction Unit was formed by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2000. So far the unit has nabbed 75 illegal immigrants and some 20,000 pounds of marijuana. Among those caught were illegal immigrants from China, the Middle East, Brazil and even Australia.

Vulnerable Migrants Exploited
By Amanda Spratt, The Christchurch Press (New Zealand), April 10, 2004
       According to this report, there is a "thriving black market in labour" in New Zealand in which an increasing number of illegal immigrants are finding themselves victims of fraudsters and employers who exploit their desperation with phoney or unpaid jobs.
       Angeline Barlow, Auckland's Asian Crime Squad spokeswoman, is quoted as saying that most of the Squad's dealings have been in the sex and massage parlour industry dominated by Thais, Chinese and Koreans. But Barlow and other authorities also say that garment manufacture, horticulture, building and plastering industries, restaurant and cleaning trades are also "well-known hives for people-smuggling schemes," Spratt writes.
       New Zealand employers face $50,000 fines for knowingly hiring an illegal worker and $10,00 fine for allowing a person to work illegally. People smugglers prosecuted in New Zealand face up to 20 years in prison or a $500,000 fine. From June 2002 to 2003, 1596 illegal immigrants were deported, up from 1460 the previous year.

Smuggler Earns Passport to Jail
The New Zealand Herald, April 7, 2004
and
Illegal Migrants Had Stolen Passports
Dominion Post, April 7, 2004
       New Zealand courts have sent to jail the first person convicted under its new tough anti-people smuggling laws.
       Victor Chechelnitski, received three and a half years in prison for smuggling illegal Ukrainian immigrants into New Zealand. The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison and/or a $500,000 fine.
       Chechelnitski was born in Moscow but emigrated to Israel in 1990. He was convicted of escorting and coaching three Ukrainian illegal immigrants to pose as Israelis. They were traveling on false Israeli passports, part of a batch of 377 stolen in Israel last May. Unlike Ukrainians, Israelis do not require a visa to enter New Zealand.
       The three paid Chechelnitski U.S. $7800 for his services. They met him in Kiev and again in Thailand, where he taught them Jewish phrases and how to handle questions from New Zealand authorities. They are currently facing charges for using false passports.
       There is some concern New Zealand may be a target for illegal immigrants using the stolen blank Israeli passports -- two other Ukrainian illegal immigrants have been apprehended so far this year carrying them.

 Statement of General James T. Hill, USA Commander, United States Southern Command
Committee on Senate Armed Services, April 1, 2004
       Middle Eastern terrorists are using proceeds from human smuggling to finance their activities, General Hill said in his April 1 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Here is an excerpt from Hill's testimony:
       "Beyond narcoterrorist and gang violence, branches of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations conduct support activities in the Southern Command area of responsibility (Latin America and the Caribbean). Islamic radical group supporters, extending from the Caribbean basin to the tri-border area of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, conduct fund raising activities. Terrorists who have planned or participated in attacks in the Middle East and the United States, such as captured high profile al Qaida terrorist Khalid Shaihk Mohammed, have spent time in the region. Supporters generate illicit funds through money laundering, drug trafficking, arms deals, human smuggling, piracy, and document forgery. They funnel tens of millions of dollars every year back to their parent organizations in the Middle East, thus extending the global support structure of international terrorism to this hemisphere. Not surprisingly, Islamic radical groups, narcoterrorists in Colombia, and urban gangs across Latin America all practice many of the same illicit business methods."
       See the full statement as prepared for delivery at the Senate Armed Services Committee's website.

EU Enlargement to Boost Organised Crime, Police Say
By David Crossland, Reuters World Service, Dateline Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, April 1, 2004
       German police say that the European Union's eastward expansion on May 1 will allow criminal gangs easier access for smuggling drugs and illegal immigrants.
       An impressive network of watchtowers and observation equipment has been installed along the bloc's eastern border. But We Koran, a specialist on East European organized crime at Europa, is quoted as saying: "The problem is the human factor. A border guard who earns little will find a 100 europa bribe very attractive."
       The EU will expand from 15 to 25 countries next month with the addition of its newest members -- Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.

Paying for Crime
The Independent (London), March 30, 2004
       Immigration crime may cost at least 3 billion British pounds (about U.S. $5.5 billion) in lost taxes and policing, according to Home Office estimates. That figure doesn't include the social and human damage created by people-smuggling.
       According to this report, about 70 percent of illegal immigrants are brought into Great Britain via organized crime groups, which charge about 11,000 pounds (U.S. $20,000) per person.

Mexico Casts Net on Human Trade
By Dudley Althaus, Houston Chronicle Mexico City Bureau, Dateline Mexico City, March 24, 2004
       Mexican officials have arrested 44 people involved in people smuggling -- a move said to be the biggest crackdown yet.
       Most of those arrested are either current or former government employees: 26 current and 6 former officers of the National Immigration Institute, Mexico's border enforcement agency; and, 10 current or former police officers. The remaining two are alleged people smugglers.
       The suspects have been charged with organized crime and people-smuggling; if convicted, they could face 10 to 28 years in prison.
       The human smugglers operated across Mexico, smuggling mostly Brazilians, Cubans, Central Americans and Asians through Mexico and into the United States. Most paid the smugglers $2,000 to $6,000 for their services, with the Chinese and other Asians paying the most.
       Last year, Mexican officials identified 30 criminal organizations with more than 120 human-smuggling gangs operating nationwide. So far, 23 have been dismantled.

Czech, German Police Crack People-Smuggling Ring
Agence France-Presse, March 23, 2004
and
Nine-Member International Gang of People Smugglers Detained
CTK (Ceska Tiskova Kancelar) Business News, Dateline Prague, March 23, 2004
       Czech and German police arrested nine members of a gang believed to have smuggled some 800 Chinese to western Europe.
       The gang allegedly transported the illegal immigrants via the Czech Republic by car in groups of four or in larger groups in lorries. When they reached the border with Germany and Austria, they were transported by car to various destinations, most in Germany.
       The nine gang members have been charged with illegal border crossing and criminal conspiracy; they face up to ten years in prison if convicted.
       Earlier in March, German and Czech police nabbed members of another group believed to have smuggled more than 200 Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants who took low-paying jobs in restaurants or sweatshops in Germany.

Snaking to Japan
By Mark O'Neill, South China Morning Post, Dateline Shanghai, March 23, 2004
       In this short feature, O'Neill writes about Katsunori Yoshida, 56, arrested by Japanese police last year and believed to be the biggest snakehead in Japanese history.
       Yoshida allegedly smuggled some 8,000 Chinese into Japan for an average of 260,000 yuan (about U.S. $34, 412) per person.
       Originally from Taiwan, Yoshida studied at a private Tokyo university in 1986, married a local woman and took Japanese nationality. He established the New Tokyo Language College, which allowed the Chinese he smuggled to get a student visa. Once in Japan, they found jobs instead.
       Yoshida expanded his operation to include 30 Chinese restaurants, which gave employment letters and fake certificates showing the applicant to be a cook.
       O'Neill writes: "He set up a dozen front companies, which hired Chinese as interpreters, investors, business managers and other specialists. He had relations with 70 brokers in China, in Shanghai, Beijing and Heilongjaing."

Death Penalty Sought for Alleged Smuggler of Latin Americans
By Eric Green, Washington File Staff Writer, International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, March 17, 2004
       The United States will seek the death penalty against a New York truck driver, Tyrone Mapletoft Williams, whose participation in a smuggling operation is alleged to have caused the deaths of 19 undocumented aliens from Latin America.
       Read the full story.

Father and Son Gangmasters Who Made 10 Million Pounds in Three Years
By Matthew Hickley, Daily Mail (London), March 17, 2004
       Victor Cox, 56 and his son Jayson, 35, reportedly made ten million British pounds (about U.S. $1.8 million) in just three years by smuggling in illegal immigrant workers -- most came from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia -- who labored in farms and food factories for about 1 pound (about U.S. $1.80) per hour.
       Hickley writes: "Although the two gangmasters claimed they were paying the minimum wage, they deducted most of the pay in charges for transport and accommodation, netting million of pounds a year. 'Crude and obvious' forged documents were used to convince the unknowing firms that the workers had a right to be employed in the country."
       Eventually British officials uncovered the scam and discovered thousands of forged documents. The father-son team has been jailed for seven years.

Ottawa To Crack Down on Human Smuggling
By Sheldon Alberts, Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada), Dateline Washington, March 8, 2004
       Ottawa will review its Criminal Code in an effort to toughen laws dealing with the trafficking of women and children and illegal immigration. It will also create a Royal Canadian Mounted Police human trafficking investigative team.
       Canada's new Immigration and Refugee Act imposes maximum penalties of life imprisonment and a $1 million fine for human trafficking.
       The U.S. State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices identified Vancouver and Toronto as hubs used by organized crime groups -- most of them Asian -- for smuggling illegal immigrants into Canada; many of the illegal immigrants continue on to the United States.

Chinese Organised Crime Mushrooms in Paris
By Antonella Tarquini, ANSA, Dateline Paris, October 21, 2003
       Editor's note: ANSA, Italy's national news agency, published this interesting article last year, but it was not made available via LexisNexis until March 5, 2004.
       Chinese organized crime is increasingly creating problems for French police as well as the Chinese community living in France.
       Sinologist Pierre Picquart is quoted as saying there are now an estimated 500,000 Chinese living in France -- a number expected to double in the next five years if illegal immigration is not controlled.
       Tarquini writes: "There is a real war being waged between gangs competing for the so-called 'chasse aux canards,' the duck hunt, where the duck is the load of illegal immigrants travelling by plane from China at 20,000 euro (about U.S. $24,811) a head. At Roissy airport the Chinese gangs hurriedly snap up the new arrivals and whisk them off for sale for a high price to their new master who also has to pay in order to be able to do business with the organisers in Beijing."
       According to this article, the Chinese gangs, in order to avoid airport controls, have developed new routes via Moscow, Prague and Budapest from where the illegal immigrants are shipped to Paris over land.
       According to this article, Chinese gangs are also heavily involved in protection rackets, prostitution and kidnapping.

More than 100 Illegal Immigrants Found in Three Drop Houses
By Ananda Shorey, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Phoenix, Arizona, March 4, 2004
       Police found some 115 illegal immigrants in three Phoenix-area houses after being alerted by suspicious neighbors.
       In the last three weeks, 18 drop houses were found the Phoenix area and 850 illegal immigrants detained.
       While the numbers seem impressive, Border Patrol Chief Gus De La Vina is quoted as saying: "I think that the drop house situation is as it's always been."
       Nonetheless, an increase in agents working the area (to 1,800 now from 450 in 1998) has increased the number of apprehensions to 44,504 this February from 33,849 last February.

"They are Victims of Organized Crime"
By Kerry Williamson, Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada), February 29, 2004
       South Korean illegal immigrants are allegedly paying criminals $5,000 to $35,000 a piece to smuggle them from Vancouver to the United States, according to this report.
       In the last year, the number of South Koreans caught trying to cross illegally into the United States from British Columbia has increased dramatically: to more than 110 last year after years of averaging just 10.
       South Korean's don't need a visa to enter Canada, a policy Canada adopted under visa-waiver legislation passed in 1994.
       Detective Constable Jim Fisher of the Vancouver Police Service is quoted as saying: "With Koreans, it is a direct result of us allowing entry without visas. So this country becomes a conduit for Koreans into the United States.
       The people-smugglers, or "snakeheads," "prey on vulnerable individuals who would like to start a new life," Fisher is quoted as saying. The illegal immigrants, he said, "are the victims in all of this. They have spent their life saving trying to get here."

Police Smash Snakehead Syndicate
South China Morning Post, February 27, 2004
       Shanghai police broke up a people-smuggling ring believed to have moved more than 140 people out of the country for up to 100,000 yuan (about U.S. $12,082) per person.
       The smugglers operated in Shanghai, Nanjing city and other parts of Jiangsu, selling people fake documents that would allow them to apply for business visas.

Police Break Up Part of People Smuggling Gang
CTK Ceska Tiskova Kancelar) Business News, Dateline Prague, February 27, 2004
and
Police Detain Ring Suspected of Human Trafficking
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Prague, Czech Republic, February 27, 2004
       Police detained 18 members of the Czech branch of an international gang believed to have smuggled at least 500 people since February 2003.
       Twelve were charged with criminal conspiracy and illegal border crossing; they could face 10 years in prison if convicted. The other six were released and will be brought to court as witnesses.
       The gang moved people from the Indian sub-continent to the Czech Republic and then continued to European Union countries. They got 320,000 Czech crowns (about U.S. $12,300) per person.

Human Smuggling Cases Cracked in Shanghai
By Yao Lan, China Daily, Dateline Shanghai, February 27, 2004
       Shanghai police say they have cleared 991 cases of entry-exit violations in the past four months as part of a China-wide crackdown on illegal immigration that began in October 2003.
       Chen Ting, an official with the Shanghai Entry-Exit Administration Bureau, is quoted as saying: "Seven organizers of the trafficking included six from other provinces were nabbed. The organizers just got passports for the immigrants with false documents, and made more than 7 million yuan (U.S. $846,433) from the vicious business."

Family Ran Underground Bank for Illegal Aliens
By Sara Bradford, South China Morning Post, February 25, 2004
       A Hong Kong family is accused of having operated an underground banking system that laundered money for people smugglers, or "snakeheads."
       The operation had branches in Australia and Great Britain to facilitate payment from illegal immigrants to their smugglers located in mainland China.
       The amount of money laundered over two years is estimated at about $200 million.
       Arrested are: Ho Mei-ying and her five daughters, one son, and two nephews. Ho's husband Ho Kwok-on had been charged but committed suicide.

Illegal Aliens Easy Prey for Criminals
By Madhusmita Bora, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Bridgeton, New Jersey, February 16, 2004
       Bridgetown police report that illegal immigrants -- many Mexican farm workers -- are increasingly easy targets for criminals.
       Bora writes: "In 2000, 27 percent of the victims for crimes such as aggravated assault, robbery and burglary were Hispanics.... That number grew to 42 percent last year."
       Most illegal immigrant crime victims don't go to the police for fear of being deported from the United States and because of language barriers and cultural stereotypes.
       Martin Saiz, a professor at the Center for Southern California Studies, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, is quoted as saying: "Police corruption is a lot more common in Latin American countries. And their bad experience with cops in their mother country taint their perceptions of law enforcement agencies here."
       In the United States, however, most local lawn enforcement agencies are prohibited from inquiring about a victim's immigration status.
       Lt. Jeffrey Wentz is quoted as saying: "You put someone in a foreign country, who doesn't have his citizenship status and has difficulties putting money in the bank, and you have everyone preying on that knowledge."
       Angela Arboleda, a civil-rights policy analyst with the National Council of LaRaza, a Washington, D.C. Hispanic advocacy group, is quoted as saying: "It's a theme recurring nationally. People know they are vulnerable because they are here illegally."

Fighting Crime -- FBI Style
The Express, February 10, 2004
       Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on February 9 the creasing of "The Serious Organised Crime Agency" (SOCA).
       Dubbed the British FBI, the new agency will have more than 5,000 investigators who will concentrate on crimes such as people smuggling, narcotics trafficking and fraud.
       SOCA will replace the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, and the investigative elements of Customs and Excise and the immigration service.

Snakeheads and Illegals
Straits Times (Singapore), February 6, 2004
and
Kompong Haven for Illegals
By Ben Nadarajan, Straits Times (Singapore), February 3, 2004
       Cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia in dealing with illegal immigrants is good, but, according to the February 6 article, Malaysia "suffers grievously from illegally entry" -- mostly from Indonesia, but also from China, Myanmar, Indochina and South Asia.
       Nadarajan writes: "There are said to be about 30 such (people smuggling) syndicates operating in Malaysia, each earning about $30,000 a month."

Twelve Years for People-Smuggler
The Australian, January 30, 2004
and
People Smuggler Jailed as Deterrent to Others
By Vivienne Oakley, The Advertiser (Adelaide), Dateline Perth, January 30, 2004
       Iraqi-born Palestinian Keis Abd Rahim Asfoor was sentenced by a Perth judge to 12 years in jail for his role in smuggling some 1,5000 to 1,700 illegal immigrants to Australia. He was also convicted for using a false Turkish passport to enter Australia.
       Between July 1999 and September 2001, Asfoor arranged for some 12 boats -- each carrying between 66 and 353 illegal immigrants who had paid him thousands of U.S. dollars -- to sail to Ashmore Reef, on the northern tip of Western Australia's coast.
       Asfoor purchased the boats and supplies and picked up the crew and passengers in Indonesia. Asfoor and a partner collected an average of $2000 from each passenger and may have made some $6 million.

Smugglers' Money Trail To Be Tracked
Alert Global Media, Inc., Money Laundering Alert, December 2003
       The new breed of human smugglers are "calculating killers" and more people are dying as a result, according to this report. In Phoenix, Arizona, homicides have soared to 216 in the first nine months of 2003, compared to 149 during the same period in 2002. Law enforcement believes at least 75 percent of the crime in the city is related to human smuggling and related activities.
       The U.S. Bureau for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), noting the huge amounts of money generated by human smuggling, hopes to nab more of the criminals involved by assigning more agents to track the money in a campaign called Operation ICE Storm.
       Dean Boyd, ICE spokesman, is quoted as saying: "This is the first time you have a full-scale effort to attack human smuggling on the financial front.... Post 9-11 smugglers can charge a lot more. (The price) went from a few hundred dollars per Mexican national to $1,500 per Mexican nationals, and several thousand (dollars) for people from other places. We're talking about huge sums of money."
       According to this report, an ICE financial analysis found more than $160 million had been wired to Phoenix in 2003; much of it may have been earmarked to pay smuggling fees. ICE is hoping to identify the people and organizations moving the money.

Fight for Human Freight
By David Kelly, Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2003
       Arizona is experiencing an upsurge in violent crime related to gangs of kidnappers that are attacking human smugglers and stealing their human cargo for ransom.
       In Phoenix this year, there have been 247 homicides. According to police, 60 percent of the city's crime is related to human smuggling and kidnapping.
       Tighter controls along the U.S.-Mexico border in other states have made Arizona's desert border with Mexico more attractive to smugglers. Smugglers are now charging illegal immigrants about $1,500 each for help in crossing the border. Kelly writes: "Immigrants are now considered as valuable as narcotics, and many kidnappers are former drug dealers....
       "The victims are often sexually assaulted, pistol-whipped or tortured until their relatives come up with the ransom, about $1,800 for Mexicans and as high as $10,000 for South Americans. Kidnappers figure those who travel farther are more desperate and worth more money to waiting families."
       The armed kidnap gangs carjacking vehicles that hold illegal immigrants and invade houses where they are sheltered. So far this year, there have been 300 home invasions in Phoenix; law enforcement believe there may be some 1,300 "drop houses" in the city where illegal immigrants are kept until their payments are made to their smugglers or kidnappers.
       Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Ice Storm to combat the spiraling violence by adding more customs and immigration agents and increasing criminal penalties for hostage-taking to life in prison.

Chinese Tourists Go Missing in Croatia
Agence France-Presse, December 3, 2003
       Thirty-four Chinese tourists have gone missing from a hotel in the capital of Zagreb.
       Croatian police are searching for them and the Tourism Minister Pave Zupan Ruskovic said Zagreb has asked Chinese authorities to take action against the tour organizers.
       Ruskovic is quoted as saying: "It is obvious that the whole thing was planned. We have lodged a protest and we hope that Chinese authorities will annul the license of the travel agency that organized this trip."
       Croatia is a frequently used transit country for illegal immigrants trying to reach western Europe.

"Coyotes" Seen as Villains, Heroes; Migrants Trust With Their Lives
By Daniel Gonzalez and Sergio Bustos with Dennis Wagner contributing, The Arizona Republic, November 25, 2003
       Illegal immigrants often see their smugglers as heroes, but the people smuggling business is getting more violent, according to this article.
       The authors write: "Most of the immigrants interviewed, however, agreed that smugglers have become far more ruthless in recent years, and they said they especially fear the bajadores who cash in on the smuggling trade by stealing migrants from smugglers, often using brutal force."
       Tougher border controls make smugglers a necessity for the would-be illegal immigrant. Wayne Cornelius, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California-San Diego, is quoted as saying the number of border patrol agents has tripled on the Southwest border in the last decade. Smuggling prices, he is quoted as saying, have risen as a result: Illegal immigrants now pay $1,500 to $2,000; in 1993, the price started at $500. In the early 1990s, according to Cornelius, 10 percent of illegal immigrants used smugglers; now it's 60 percent.
       In Arizona, where the violence between people smugglers has been especially deadly, U.S. federal authorities have launched a crackdown. Since September 27, 504 illegal immigrants have been arrested in the Phoenix area, 79 people prosecuted on people-smuggling related charges, and $300,000 in smuggling proceeds has been seized along with 43 weapons ranging from semiautomatic handguns to shotguns and assault rifles.

Ending Slavery in the 21st Century
Editorial, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 25, 2003
       Federal officials estimate 50,000 people are brought into the United States each year to work in exploitative conditions, such as in sweatshops and as servants.
       The paper ran a five- part series November 17-21 which investigated a case involving Vietnamese women looking for jobs who paid to be smuggled into American Samoa only to find themselves trapped and brutalized in a garment factory.
       See Made in Misery (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/madeinmisery/).

Four Taiwanese Men Convicted for Drowning Six Chinese Stowaways
Agence France-Presse, November 25, 2003
       Wang Chung-hsing, the skipper of a smuggling boat, received the death sentence from a Taiwan district court for his role in the drowning deaths of six Chinese women attempting to illegally enter Taiwan.
       On August 26, Wang ordered that 26 illegal Chinese immigrants be thrown overboard from two smuggling boats in an attempt to escape a coast guard patrol. Six drowned; 12 were rescued; 8 managed to swim ashore and were arrested.
       Ko Ching-Sung, the skipper of the other people-smuggling boat, got life in prison while two crew members, Yeh Tien-sheng and Tseng Chung-ming, were jailed for three and two years respectively.
       Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration has arrested 1,239 illegal Chinese migrant so far this year. Most -- 1,005 -- were women, many interested in finding work in Taiwan's thriving sex industry.

On Trips to Mexico, Some Americans Bring Back Mexicans
By Joel Millman, The Wall Street Journal, Dateline San Ysidro, California, November 17, 2003
       An increasing number of very young U.S. citizens are getting caught up in the people-smuggling business, according to this article.
       Millman writes: "Smuggling has created a mini-employment boom here (San Ysidro) for single mothers, military personnel and especially teenagers who know the dance clubs where potential customers hang out. Between July 2001 and August 2002, the most-recent date available, the Immigration and Naturalization Service counted nearly 400 cases at this checkpoint alone involving smugglers younger than 18 years old."

Philippines a Transit Point for Chinese Human Smuggling Ring to U.S.
Agence France-Presse, Dateline Manila, November 14, 2003
and
Chinese Smuggling Ring Broken; U.S. Agents Arrest Five People Who Allegedly Helped Smuggle Hundreds of Chinese Into the United States Illegally
By Larry Lebowitz, The Miami Herald, November 1l, 2003
and
Couple Accused of Smuggling Chinese
By Tanya Weinbert, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), November 11, 2003
       U.S. federal authorities arrested in Miami a husband and wife team who allegedly smuggled thousands of Chinese illegal immigrants into the United States over the past 20 years.
       Alexandre Wei, a Taiwanese national with French citizenship, and his wife Bing Xei, a Chinese citizen, used Miami, Florida as the U.S. entry point for their clients, who usually ended their round-the-world journey in New York City.
       In Manila, U.S. and Philippine authorities arrested the couple's son Jacques, a suspected co-conspirator, along with six other Chinese.
       This family of people smugglers would first send their clients from China to the Philippines and several other Asian countries. They would then be moved to France, Suriname, or the French territories in the Caribbean, Jamaica or the Bahamas. From the West Indies, the illegal immigrants were moved to Florida.
       The illegal immigrants were charged as much as $50,000 each by the smuggling ring.

After the Crossing, Danger to Migrants Isn't Over
By Charlie LeDuff, The New York Times, Dateline Phoenix, Arizona, November 11, 2003
       "Bajadero" is the newest Spanish word to enter the language of human smuggling -- it refers to criminals who make their money by kidnapping illegal immigrants from their smugglers and holding them for ransom.
       (Editor's note: "Bajadero" literally is borrowed from "computer talk" and means to "download" or transfer.)
       For years, human smugglers along the Mexican border have been known as "polleros" or "chicken ranchers"; their clients are known as the "pollos" or "chickens." Bajaderos have appeared because those "chickens" are worth more money than ever before.
       Illegal border crossing has become a risky business because security measures have been enhanced since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. As a result, the price to take Mexican illegal immigrants over the border to Phoenix has tripled to more than $1,500. Central and South Americans pay even more -- as much as $4,000 per person; and Eastern Europeans often pay as much as $10,000.
       With people smuggling becoming almost as lucrative as drug smuggling and the penalties far less, organized crime has become increasingly involved. And stealing illegal immigrants is an easy way to make money after someone else has done the hard work of sneaking them into the United States.
       Michael J. Garcia, assistant secretary of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is quoted as saying: "Human smuggling organizations are targeting one another with innocent civilians caught in the crossfire and paying a very high price. With the rise of this organized criminal enterprise here in Phoenix, we've seen an incredible rise in violence."
       LeDuff writes: "In Phoenix alone, law enforcement officials blame warfare between rival smuggling cartels for the 45 percent rise in killings over the past year. Violent crimes like kidnapping, home invasions and extortion are up more than 400 percent, and authorities attribute most of that crime to rival bajaderos and polleros as well."

Authorities Launch Crackdown on Immigrant Smugglers
By Anabelle Garay, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Phoenix, Arizona, November 10, 2003
       U.S. Federal, state and local authorities are joining forces to form a task force that will intensify efforts to crack down on increasingly violent human smuggling organizations.
       Michael J. Garcia, acting assistant secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is quoted as saying: "We're making a commitment to put an end to this violence. Never have agencies on so many levels come together and pooled their expertise to deal with this problem."
       See the Department of Homeland Security news release.

Murders Go Unsolved as Smuggling Grows; Phoenix Homicides Setting Record Pace This Year
By Judi Villa and Ryan Konig, The Arizona Republic, November 9, 2003
       Murders are increasing at a record rate in Phoenix, Arizona, thanks to a surge in immigrant and narcotics smuggling.
       Through October, 216 people were killed in Phoenix; one in five of the murders is believed to be connected to drug or human smuggling. Only 31 percent of all the murders are solved.
       Investigating the murders of smuggled illegal immigrants is especially difficult because they have few if any ties to the community and are hard to identify; plus, the smuggling world is secretive and difficult for authorities to infiltrate.
       Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt is quoted as saying: "With our proximity to the border (with Mexico) and our drug problem and the availability of weapons, we've somehow created the 'perfect storm' for homicide."

4 Die in Fight Over Immigrant Cargo; Five More Are Shot and Wounded in Arizona as One Ring of Human Smugglers Apparently Attacks Another
From The Associated Press, The Los Angles Times, Dateline Casa Grande, Arizona, November 5, 2003
       Rivalry between two human smuggling gangs ended in the shooting deaths of four people and the wounding of five.
       The shootings occurred on an Arizona interstate highway between Tucson and Phoenix. Pinal County Sheriff Roger Vanderpool is quoted as saying the gunmen open fire because the other smuggling group had stolen their human cargo.
       Migrant smuggling is getting more dangerous, this article says, as violent drug dealers increasingly take up the lucrative business of human smuggling. Rival smuggling gangs steal illegal immigrants from each other and hold them for ransom.
       Arizona has become one of the most active illegal entry points on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cleaning Shop
By Lisa Stein, U.S. News & World Report, November 3, 2003
and
Behind Wal-Mart's Happy Face
By Debra J. Saunders, The San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 2003
and
Wal-Mart Raids Send Signal to Other Firms, Intentional or Not; They Worry INS Will Again Crack Down on Illegal Workers, Though Most Experts Don't See New Dragnet
By Kris Axtman, The Christian Science Monitor, October 27, 2003
       The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested some 250 illegal immigrant workers at 60 Wal-Mart stores across the United States.
       The illegal immigrant workers were from Eastern Europe, Central America and Asia and most worked for independent janitorial contractors.
       Federal law enforcement also searched the office of a Wal-Mart executive at the discount chain's Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters and seized several boxes of documents.
       Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the United States. Companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrant can face fines of up to $10,000 per worker.
       See the October 23 press release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: ICE Employment Investigation Yields Hundreds of Arrests .

Getting the Real Goods: Getting a Real Deal on a Leather Bag Can Be a Rush, But the True Price May Be Steeper Than You Think
By Isabel Vincent, The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia, Canada) October 7, 2003
       This article examines how counterfeit goods, which generate sales worth billions of dollars each year, may be financing terrorist groups such as Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida, Hesbollah and Hamas.
       Human smuggling is also part of the counterfeiting underworld. Vincent writes: "Experts say that vendors selling counterfeit goods are often illegal immigrants in Europe and North America who must repay brokers who arranged their flight from their home countries."
       Tim Trainer, president of the Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition in Washington, a group that tracks international counterfeiting and trains law enforcement personnel to spot fake goods, is quoted as saying: "When you buy a counterfeit product, you are feeding into a system that traffics in human beings."

"Illegals": Door to Door at Right Price
By Roger Beaumont, The Nation (Thailand), October 6, 2003
       This article describes the various ways human smugglers use air travel to transport their clientele.
       The article also points out the increasing usefulness of the Internet to human smugglers. Beaumont quotes his contact, a young Englishman who works for a trafficking gang run by a Kuwaiti, as saying: "There are hundreds of websites which provide false identities. Some of them offer a do-it-yourself kit to build new IDs (identifications) with blank documents such as birth certificates and stolen passports. And believe me, hundreds of thousands of UK (United Kingdom) passports are stolen every year and never recovered. What's more, the software is so cool these days that documents needed to create identities can be make or copied; and they are very difficult to detect by the naked eye."
       See the full story.

Stowaways from Mainland China on the Rise, Coast Guard Warns
By Flor Wang, Central News Agency-Taiwan, Dateline Taipei, September 20, 2003
       The Taiwanese Coast Guard says the number of stowaways from mainland entering Taiwan is increasing, and Taiwan's detention centers for the illegal immigrants are fast reaching their full capacity, according to this report.
       As of September 9, Taiwanese authorities have detained 2,511 stowaways for 2003. Most are women who are believed to be looking for work in Taiwan's sex industry. According to this report, the women pay on average NT $160,000 (U.S. $4,700) to their smuggling rings, plus a "transport fee" of NT $8,000 (U.S. $237), plus NT $28,000 (U.S. $830) to their brokers in mainland China, plus NT $25,000 (U.S. $742) to their brokers in Taiwan.
       Wang writes that "the mainland Chinese people are usually transported by mainland vessels to the high seas in the Taiwan Strait, and are then taken away by Taiwan ships to waters off the island before boarding speed boats or bamboo fishing boats arranged by human cargo smuggling rings to carry them to Taiwan.
       "Pingtang in mainland China's Fujian province is the major transfer spot for illegal human cargo smuggling between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait...."

Heightened Border Security Leaves Park Rangers Open to More Danger
By Karen Brooks, Fort Worth Star Telegram (Texas), September 19, 2003
       Tougher border controls and the increasing need to deal with narcotics and human smugglers has made the job of park ranger one of the most dangerous in federal law enforcement.
       Brooks writes: "After 30 years with only one ranger death in a national park, three rangers have been killed in the past three years.... A recent study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that park rangers are 15 times more likely to be killed or injured on the job than an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration."
       Dennis Burnett, law enforcement administrator for the National Park Service in Washington, is quoted as saying: "When the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol clamped down, (rangers') problems started increasing."
    &nbs