*Menu
Search
Greencastle Banner Graphic

Arizona man arrested for transporting illegal aliens

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

CLOVERDALE -- A Phoenix man is in the Putnam County Jail following his Monday night arrest for the transport of illegal aliens.

At 8:32 p.m., Indiana State Police Trooper Yan Dravigne stopped an eastbound 2001 Mazda van near the 45-mile marker of Interstate 70 for a traffic violation, following too closely.

The driver and vehicle owner was identified as Luciano Cax Ortiz, 24, of Phoenix. Ortiz provided a Guatemala identification card and Guatemala passport, but no driver's license.

Further check of the vehicle revealed six other occupants. Three of the occupants, one female and two males, had no identification. The other three males had only Mexico credentials.

At the conclusion of Dravigne's investigation, he obtained information that led him to believe the six passengers were in the United States illegally and en route to New York City with Ortiz.

Based on this information, Ortiz was arrested at 8:45 p.m. for two Class A misdemeanors, transporting illegal aliens for gain and harboring illegal aliens for gain. He was also charged with operating a motor vehicle having never obtained a license, a Class C misdemeanor.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was contacted and was unable to offer assistance with the six passengers.

The six passengers and the vehicle were transported to a nearby truck stop and released from ISP custody.

Questions concerning U.S. immigration laws should be directed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Comments
View 7 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

  • What are we supposed to do with these people? They should be looked after by someone. Another government entity failing to do it's duty!

    -- Posted by oldlady on Tue, Aug 27, 2013, at 5:02 PM

  • I'll arrest you, then just...I guess...release you guys at a truck stop. Cool. That worked.

    -- Posted by Apollo13 on Tue, Aug 27, 2013, at 6:22 PM

  • A good reporter would do a further examination of this issue. Explaining why nothing was done by the Immigration Department, and what happened to them?

    -- Posted by senior townee on Tue, Aug 27, 2013, at 9:08 PM

  • Seven people were transported to a "nearby" truck stop and released. Was the car impounded? Or did they all go on their merry way to New York?

    Why would the ISP release the driver with no driver's license and place everyone else on the highway in jeopardy?

    And we wonder why there should be stricter border control?

    The US Immigration and Custom Enforcement Agency is supposed to enforce the laws of our country. Did they in this case?

    Contact your Senator and Congressman about this case.

    -- Posted by Lookout on Wed, Aug 28, 2013, at 9:34 AM

  • "A Phoenix man is in the Putnam County Jail following his Monday night arrest for the transport of illegal aliens."

    "The six passengers and the vehicle were transported to a nearby truck stop and released from ISP custody."

    The driver is in jail, he wasn't released.

    -- Posted by Geologist on Wed, Aug 28, 2013, at 1:48 PM

  • VolunteerFF: That's what the newspaper said! Duh! We all read that!

    -- Posted by oldlady on Wed, Aug 28, 2013, at 5:32 PM

  • Not everyone read that judging by the comments.

    -- Posted by Geologist on Wed, Aug 28, 2013, at 9:25 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: