On May 20, 2013, just before 4:00 a.m., a Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped a maroon passenger van on north I17, north of Highway 260, for weaving between traffic lanes. While speaking with the driver, 26-year-old Ricardo Albazan, the deputy saw at least 9 persons in the passenger area of the van.
Ricardo only possessed a Mexican identification card and claimed he was heading to Denver, Colorado. The driver acknowledged no one in the van had identification. Based on the deputy’s training and experience, the deputy formed an opinion that the driver was transporting illegal aliens to a U.S. destination.
The deputy contacted a representative of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by phone who interviewed the detained passengers. The ICE agent determined Ricardo was involved in the human smuggling of 9 undocumented aliens from Mexico. A jail van was called to assist with transportation of the group to the Camp Verde Detention Center pending detainer authorizations from ICE. Before the jail van arrived, 2 of the subjects fled into the darkness. Assisting law enforcement personnel searched the area but could not locate the 2 who had escaped. The remaining 8 subjects, including Ricardo, were transported to the Camp Verde Detention Center to await transfer of custody to ICE. Ricardo was found to have nearly $1400 on his person and identified as the “coyote” in the smuggling operation.
ICE agents will be handling prosecution regarding this case.