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2 face human smuggling charges after I-70 stop

Mexicans accused of transporting vans full of immigrants.

Juan Varillas-Santiago.

Moises Martinez-Garcia.

Remigio Jimenez-Lucero

By Kelli Wynn, Staff Writer Updated 7:29 AM Friday, June 10, 2011

Two Mexican nationals face federal charges after they were allegedly caught using Interstate 70 in Clark County to smuggle 10 Guatemalans across the country.

Moises Martinez-Garcia and Juan Varillas-Santiago were being held without bond Thursday in the Montgomery County Jail after having been arraigned in U.S. District Court in Dayton, according to Fred Alverson, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Ohio.

The case against Martinez-Garcia and Varilla-Santiago marks the second time in four months that alleged smugglers have been caught using I-70 in the Dayton area to deliver multiple illegal immigrants to a predetermined location, Alverson said.

The local cases involve fewer illegal immigrants than other notable smuggling cases, but “certainly raise cause for concern,” Alverson said.

Martinez-Garcia and Varillas-Santiago were arrested by federal agents after being stopped by Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers in Clark County on May 27.

Trooper Bill Ward observed a blue 2007 Toyota Sienna minivan with California license plates traveling east on the interstate at 81 mph in a 65 mph zone. Ward stopped the van and found 12 occupants.

Varillas-Santiago was the driver and Martinez-Garcia was the front-seat passenger, according to an affidavit filed by Special Agent Glenn DeMarr of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Martinez-Garcia gave a name that did not match the owner’s name on the minivan’s registration, the affidavit said, and the other occupants could not produce identification.

Federal agents were called and arrived to arrest the van’s occupants.

The agents found that all 12 occupants had entered the country illegally, the affidavit said. All 12 were taken to the Butler County Jail. It’s unclear how Varillas-Santiago and Martinez-Garcia ended up at the Montgomery County Jail.

Some of the Guatemalans interviewed told authorities they had paid up to $6,000 to be smuggled into the U.S., according to the affidavit.

Martinez-Garcia allegedly told authorities that the organization that pays him to transport illegal immigrants dispatches about four vans a day loaded with undocumented immigrants.

Martinez-Garcia also said he had been transporting illegal immigrants from California to the East Coast and had offered Varillas-Santiago $350 to help him transport the Guatemalans.

Martinez-Garcia said he received $700 to drive the undocumented Guatemalans through the U.S. and was allegedly given $1,000 for expenses during each trip, according to the affidavit.

The other case was filed in federal court four months ago after federal agents arrested Remigio Jimenez-Lucero.

State Highway Patrol troopers stopped Jimenez-Lucero in his Dodge Caravan March 14 for a traffic violation on I-70 in Preble County.

The van carried nine passengers who authorities say had entered the U.S. illegally. The passengers came from Mexico or El Salvador, according to another affidavit filed in federal court.

Jimenez-Lucero, who is also being held in Montgomery County Jail, pleaded guilty in April to one count of knowingly transporting illegal immigrants. When sentenced July 14, he faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines and assessments totaling approximately $250,100.

Jimenez-Lucero also told authorities that he worked for an organization that transported illegal immigrants from California to the East Coast and that he had made up to two trips a month since September 2010.

Jimenez-Lucero said he made approximately $1,200 for each trip across the U.S. It was not immediately known if Jimenez-Lucero worked for the same organization that employed Martinez-Garcia.

Some of the passengers in Caravan with Jimenez-Lucero told authorities that they were being transported from Los Angeles, Calif., to various locations on the East Coast.

Some of the passengers said they paid up to $700 to be transported, the affidavit said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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