Illegal Aliens Nailed Running Document Mill
Jim Kouri, CPP
July 04, 2005
Three men will be sentenced later this year after pleading guilty to federal charges stemming from the break up of two separate document counterfeiting operations earlier this year, according to officials from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Antonio Lopez, 24, and Salvador Qujada, 22, pleaded guilty in federal court on June 17 to conspiring to produce fraudulent identity documents. The two Mexican nationals were arrested in early March after ICE agents, accompanied by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, uncovered a document mill in the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles.
In addition to fraudulent immigration documents and social security cards, ICE agents say the mill was also producing fake state identification cards, voter registration cards, and Mexican matricula consular cards. Lopez and Qujada are scheduled to be sentenced in August.
The two suspects' court appearance came one day after a third Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court here to selling fraudulent documents as part of a document mill based in MacArthur Park. Manuel Calis-Salgado, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
With current computer technology, today's document mills are more sophisticated and harder to detect,” said Kevin Jeffery, deputy special agent in charge for ICE investigations in Los Angeles. “ICE is working closely with local authorities to identify and dismantle these operations because of the threat they pose to national security. The documents produced by these counterfeiting mills can be exploited by criminals and even terrorists to obscure their identities and their intentions.”
In an unrelated case, ICE special agents and other law enforcement officers this week arrested 19 illegal aliens in Missouri who had fraudulently applied for Missouri driver’s licenses using legitimate birth certificates from US citizens.
Twelve men and seven women were arrested in the two-day operation which ended Tuesday. Those arrested, who are legally ineligible to obtain drivers licenses, are citizens from three countries: El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. The Missouri Department of Revenue requested ICE assistance with this operation since the people requesting these driver’s licenses were believed to be illegal aliens and not US citizens.
Law enforcement officials believe that these aliens illegally resided in other states and traveled to Missouri carrying legitimate birth certificates from people who live in Puerto Rico (10), California (4) and Texas (5). The aliens would then fraudulently present the US birth certificates as their own and apply for Missouri driver’s licenses.
Sources: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Department of Justice, Los Angeles Police Department, American Federation of Police & Concerned Citizens, National Association of Chiefs of Police
Antonio Lopez, 24, and Salvador Qujada, 22, pleaded guilty in federal court on June 17 to conspiring to produce fraudulent identity documents. The two Mexican nationals were arrested in early March after ICE agents, accompanied by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, uncovered a document mill in the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles.
In addition to fraudulent immigration documents and social security cards, ICE agents say the mill was also producing fake state identification cards, voter registration cards, and Mexican matricula consular cards. Lopez and Qujada are scheduled to be sentenced in August.
The two suspects' court appearance came one day after a third Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court here to selling fraudulent documents as part of a document mill based in MacArthur Park. Manuel Calis-Salgado, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
With current computer technology, today's document mills are more sophisticated and harder to detect,” said Kevin Jeffery, deputy special agent in charge for ICE investigations in Los Angeles. “ICE is working closely with local authorities to identify and dismantle these operations because of the threat they pose to national security. The documents produced by these counterfeiting mills can be exploited by criminals and even terrorists to obscure their identities and their intentions.”
In an unrelated case, ICE special agents and other law enforcement officers this week arrested 19 illegal aliens in Missouri who had fraudulently applied for Missouri driver’s licenses using legitimate birth certificates from US citizens.
Twelve men and seven women were arrested in the two-day operation which ended Tuesday. Those arrested, who are legally ineligible to obtain drivers licenses, are citizens from three countries: El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. The Missouri Department of Revenue requested ICE assistance with this operation since the people requesting these driver’s licenses were believed to be illegal aliens and not US citizens.
Law enforcement officials believe that these aliens illegally resided in other states and traveled to Missouri carrying legitimate birth certificates from people who live in Puerto Rico (10), California (4) and Texas (5). The aliens would then fraudulently present the US birth certificates as their own and apply for Missouri driver’s licenses.
Sources: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Department of Justice, Los Angeles Police Department, American Federation of Police & Concerned Citizens, National Association of Chiefs of Police
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