(CNN) -- Twenty-two people allegedly involved in a "highly sophisticated and violent" Mexico-based ring that sold fake documents in the United States were indicted by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, federal officials said Thursday. The group is accused of "kidnapping, beating and -- at least on one occasion -- murdering competitors and using violence to discipline its own members," according to a statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
"Document fraud doesn't just involve paperwork," ICE Director John Morton said. "The business of document fraud, which can be ugly and involve violence and the use of deadly weapons, warrants the attention of Homeland Security Investigations." The group, uncovered during "Operation Phalanx," had cells in 19 cities in 11 states, including three cells in Virginia, ICE said. "The indictment portrays a deadly criminal organization that uses brutal violence to eliminate rivals, protect its turf and enforce discipline against its own members," said U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride. The 12-count indictment accuses Israel Cruz Millan, a 28-year-old Raleigh, North Carolina, man -- also known as "El Muerto" -- of heading the group's U.S. operations that produced high-quality false identification cards to illegal aliens. Millan allegedly placed a manager in each city, with a number of "runners" who handed out business cards advertising the fake document services and selling them to customers, the indictment said. A counterfeit resident alien and
Social Security card typically sold for $150 to $200, it said. Read full story here:
News New Mexico
Late February Bust in Richmond, A Sign of the Times
Editorial from the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - There's a certain appeal to Jeff Bingaman's call for tapping our nation's strategic petroleum reserve — and our state's senior senator is finding scattered support around Capitol Hill for selling off some of that stored-up oil as a way of slowing down or reversing the gasoline-price creep we're all feeling. Meanwhile, a Congress wrestling with next fiscal year's budget and the growing national debt should be considering another response to the squeeze on oil supplies and the market manipulations that come with it: Boost the gas tax by a bunch: 50 cents, maybe a dollar a gallon. Higher-priced gas might be unpopular, but it also might affect folks' motoring habits and most of the country, even the far-apart population of New Mexico, needs to ask itself "is this drive necessary?" Read more - News New Mexico
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