Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, says his Human Smuggling Unit stopped a van with seven subjects and the coyote’s three year old daughter which began an investigation into human smuggling charges. All seven of the suspects were in the country illegally.
The occupants had just recently crossed the border, according to the detectives. Five illegal aliens were booked into the 4th Avenue Jail on state felony Human Smuggling charges. Two others were turned over to ICE.
The investigation shows that five illegal aliens had paid the driver $1,500 each to be smuggled into the United States.
The smugglers brought along a three year old girl, allegedly the daughter of the female coyote. She was found seated between two unknown males and not properly restrained by a seatbelt.
Arpaio says he is concerned about the growing number of children who are being included in these human smuggling operations. “Children should never be a part of any criminal enterprise and yet we are finding them in many of our human smuggling investigations,” Arpaio says.
In recent incidents, Arpaio says, deputies have removed five children from vehicles used for human smuggling operations.
The destination of this particular group was California. All the suspected illegal aliens said they are Mexican Nationals who crossed into the country near Altar, Mexico.
To date the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested over 5,800 illegal aliens involved in human smuggling.