December 2, 2007 - 11:52PM
'Coyote' wars move to Valley
MIKE BRANOM, TRIBUNE
Rival gangs of human smugglers no longer battle for supremacy on busy
freeways. The fight has come to quiet residential streets.
Like any trade involving illicit contraband, violence always has
surrounded the trade of smuggling illegal immigrants into the United
States. With "coyotes" continually scheming to eliminate competitors
and steal their lucrative cargo, the crackle of gunfire often broke
the silence of the desert.
But after successful interdiction efforts on Arizona's highways,
police and prosecutors say they now are seeing more crimes committed
in the Valley.
"If you're an innocent person living in a neighborhood where there's
a drop house, you have reason to be concerned," said Arizona
Department of Public Safety Lt. Fred Zumbo, an immigration
enforcement expert.
Phoenix police recently touted a successful investigation into
kidnappings and extortion attempts stemming from human smuggling. In
this instance, the crime scenes were single-family homes.
According to authorities, smuggler Luis Armando Camacho-Pasos showed
patience in destroying a rival gang.
He went to Mexico, approached a coyote and posed as an illegal
immigrant needing help to cross the border. Once stashed in a west
Phoenix drop house in June, Pasos told the smugglers to meet his wife
nearby, where she would pay the remainder of his fee.
But there was no wife, and there certainly wasn't any money. Instead,
Pasos' armed gang jumped the other smugglers, seizing the competing
ring's "cargo," taking their captive immigrants to their own drop
house and then extorting money from them.
In 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona
investigated 100 calls in which migrants were held hostage, usually
while coyotes were squeezing them for more money.
But ICE spokesman Vinnie Picard said the agency does not track how
many cases specifically relate to one group of smugglers overtaking
another.
Pasos was brought to justice after an illegal immigrant escaped and
called police. Last month, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for
kidnapping and weapons violations.
"These are very dangerous crimes taking place within our community,"
Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Joel Tranter said. He estimated that
city's authorities respond to smuggling-related kidnapping calls on a
weekly basis.
Why these incidents are taking place within the Valley can be found
in the wreckage of two bullet-riddled and blood-drenched vehicles
along Interstate 10.
On the same day in November 2003, coincidentally, that Mexico's
president visited Phoenix, a group of bajadores — bandits ripping off
other smugglers — commandeered a pickup filled with illegal
immigrants northwest of Tucson. But one of the original smugglers
escaped and called his compatriots in Phoenix, who came to his aid.
The first group eventually caught up with the bajadores near Casa
Grande and opened fire.
The toll: four dead, five wounded and four arrested.
A similar incident took place in rural Pima County earlier this year,
with three killed.
In response to the mayhem, DPS fought back earlier this year with
"Operation Full Court Press," which Zumbo described as a thorough
interdiction effort along the border and on major traffic arteries
heading into the state. Scores of arrests followed.
"But it's like a big chess match, in that we do something and then
they counter it," Zumbo said. "So, they've countered it by not using
the main highways."
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