Local News in Brief : ‘Coyote’ Suspects, 34 Aliens Arrested
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Five suspected “coyotes” and 34 aliens were arrested in the crackdown on the smuggling of illegal immigrants aboard commercial airliners, authorities said Friday.
Immigration agents arrested four alleged smugglers, all Mexican men, at Los Angeles International Airport late Thursday and early Friday as the men drove up to the airport in three vehicles containing 10 of the aliens, said Ernest Gustafson, district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Fourteen other aliens, including two Israelis, were also taken into custody at International Airport.
At Ontario Airport, agents arrested a U.S. citizen bringing four illegal immigrants, all Mexicans, to the airport. Another six aliens were arrested as they waited to board flights to eastern cities.
Most of the illegal immigrants were Mexican. Others were from El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
Nearly 600 aliens and suspected smugglers have been arrested at airports across the country since the crackdown began Feb. 27.
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