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The Arizona Department of Justice’s office charged 22 people Tuesday in connection with the coordinated smuggling of undocumented immigrants on social mediaaccording to a statement.
The 22 suspects were indicted in Arizona federal court on charges of conspiring to transport illegal aliens for profit.
Each indictment charges a human smuggling coordinator who used social media, including Snapchat, to recruit people within Arizona to transport undocumented immigrants for money.
After recruiting drivers on social media, coordinators often switched to a messaging app like WhatsApp to coordinate logistics.
Many of the accused coordinators were identified through police contacts, cell phone data, and their social media accounts.
Many of the posts claimed drivers could earn large sums of money without risking arrest, court documents explain.
The Arizona prosecutor’s office shared a post on social media stating that people who refer a driver or provide the services of a driver could earn between $3,000 and $20,000.
The message accompanied by the image of several $100 bills also assured that they would guide the drivers along the road and would be in communication with them all the time by phone.
The objective of the coordinators was to recruit minors and young adults as drivers, the Arizona District Attorney’s Office detailed in the statement.
The maximum sentence for conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants for profit is 10 years in prison, fines of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
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