Stephanie Jackter - 3-25-2004 at 09:53 PM
42 current, former officials become latest catches in 18-month inquiry
By Ignacio Ibarra
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
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Leads developed during the investigation into the deaths of 14 illegal border crossers near Yuma nearly three years ago helped lead to the arrests
this week of 42 current and former Mexican officials on charges of corruption and complicity in people smuggling.
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The suspects are accused of forming a network that operated in 12 Mexican states that provided official cover for the smuggling of migrants - mostly
from Brazil, Central America and Asia - through Mexico.
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The ring also helped facilitate the crossing of migrants into the United States at various locations along the border, including Agua Prieta.
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The accused Mexican officials worked with various smuggling organizations, including the one headed by Ebodio Manilla Cabrera, who is charged in the
May 2001 Yuma case, said Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel Miranda at a news conference Tuesday in Mexico City.
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The ring operated in the northern border states of Baja California Norte, Sonora, Chihuahua and Nuevo Leon; the southern border states of Chiapas and
Quintana Roo; and the central Mexico states of Jalisco, Tabasco, Veracruz, San Luis Potosi and Mexico; and Mexico City.
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The arrests capped an 18-month investigation and marked the largest investigation to date of official complicity in people trafficking, said Rafael
Macedo de La Concha, Mexico's attorney general.
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Immigrant trafficking is a shameful, intolerable crime made more serious by the participation of public servants, Macedo said.
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In recent years, people trafficking has grown into the second-most-lucrative criminal enterprise in Mexico behind drug trafficking, he said.
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He said Mexican courts issued 226 arrest warrants during the course of the investigation. More than half of them have already been served. The arrests
this week were part of the latest phase of the investigation and more arrests are anticipated.
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Macedo said the investigation was handled exclusively by Mexico, but information was shared with other Mexican and international police agencies.
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Mexican officials contacted Wednesday declined to elaborate on the link the arrests have to the 2001 Arizona case, which involved the smuggling of
Mexican nationals.
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Deputy Attorney General Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos said the traffickers charged between $2,000 and $6,000 to get illegal entrants into the United
States, with the most being paid by Asians.
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