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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2006 
Mexico Arrests Man in Fake Document Probe
 Olga R. Rodriguez - Associated Press
| | Fake documents confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are used in training programs at the U.S. Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona. (Reuters/Jeff Topping) |
Mexican authorities have arrested the leader of a far-flung ring that allegedly made and distributed forged immigration and identification documents in the U.S., American officials said Monday.
Pedro Castorena, 42, was arrested Saturday in Guadalajara, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.
The arrest of Castorena, who allegedly headed a ring that counterfeited and distributed such documents as resident alien cards, Social Security cards and American driver's licenses, "deals a serious blow to one of the largest fraudulent document organizations in the United States," said Julie Myers of the Department of Homeland Security.
Castorena, who was indicted in Denver last July on charges of conspiracy, fraud, misuse of visas and money laundering, was located last month in Jalisco by ICE agents with the help of Mexican federal agents and state police.
The documents were distributed in several U.S. states, including California, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado, ICE said.
U.S. authorities say Castorena ran his organization like a franchise-style company with cells in more than a dozen cities across the United States and with cell leaders paying a "franchise fee" to operate the business.
The investigation that led to Castorena's arrest began in 2000 when U.S. federal officials began looking into the sale and distribution of counterfeit IDs in Denver.
Mexican authorities took Castorena to Mexico City, where he's waiting extradition to the United States.
On the Net:U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: http://www.ice.gov |
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