More than 500 charged with immigration-related crime in Arizona over recent 2-week period

PHOENIX — From Jan. 21-Feb. 3, a total of 565 people were charged with illegal immigration activity by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) either “referred or supported” the cases which mostly related to illegal possession of drugs and firearms and alien smuggling across the southern U.S. border.

What were some of the immigration-related cases in the 2-week period?

The District of Arizona cited three notable cases from the recent two-week stretch that involved at least one of, if not all, three criminal categories.

The first was penned on Jan. 27 and primarily dealt with human smuggling.

Via social media monitoring, authorities discovered the extent of illegal activity by Edwin Santiago Marquez Flores, a man who admitted to being in the U.S. illegally. A traffic stop revealed Marquez Flores was smuggling two AK47-style rifles and more than $1,400 across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Further questioning unveiled Marquez Flores had sold an estimated 40 firearms to an unidentified buyer in Mexico, hired about 300 to transport roughly 800-1,000 illegal aliens into the U.S. and personally “transporting and selling cocaine” in the U.S. Marquez Flores claimed to have earned more than $1.2 million for smuggling-related activity, according to a press release.

On Jan. 31, American citizen Jason Kyle Dunn was charged with illegal human smuggling at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19.

A Border Patrol agent’s dog sniffed out six people in the man’s Ford F-550, one in the driver’s side toolbox, two inside the passenger side toolbox and three inside the main toolbox. Authorities reported that the individuals were locked in the respective toolboxes for about two hours.

Then, on Feb. 2 ICE officials apprehended a Mexican national who had “unlawfully returned” to the U.S. following deportation.

Alfonso Garcia Vega was deported in 2020 for an extensive criminal laundry list presented in federal court in 2019, which featured DUIs, illegal drug trafficking and weapon misconduct. He was sentenced to two years in custody at the time.

Other recent immigration crime busted in Arizona

Seven fentanyl drug traffickers were indicted and will be prosecuted in Tucson following U.S. and Mexico cooperation, as was announced by the District of Arizona in January.

Over the first Thursday through Sunday of Trump’s second presidential term (Jan. 30-Feb. 2), ICE officials said they arrested an average of 593 individuals per day. The Associated Press reported the immigration arrest rate is on a trajectory to surpass the highest daily average of 613 in 2013 under Obama.

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