• Ring took in $220 million
• Governments on four continents cooperate
• INS uses new powers, laws to investigate
• Related stories and sites

November 20, 1998
Web posted at: 9:30 p.m. EST (0230 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The largest, most sophisticated human smuggling ring in U.S. history was shut down Friday. The Immigration and Naturalization Service announced the indictment of leaders of three "flesh cartels" for illegally spiriting an estimated 12,000 illegal immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East into the United States over three years.

Twenty-one people were taken into custody in a series of raids in several states, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Ecuador. Two of three ringleaders were arrested, and a third smuggling chieftain remains at large, officials said. All three are from India.

"Let all those who flout the nation's immigration laws be warned we plan to take swift and decisive action against you," said Attorney General Janet Reno. She was joined by INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, who vowed to "defend the integrity of this nation's immigration laws."

Ring took in $220 million

Federal authorities said the yearlong investigation revealed the smuggling organizations earned an estimated $220 million over the past three years by charging unscrupulous U.S. employers $20,000 to $28,000 per illegal employee. The smuggled workers were paid unusually low wages and were afraid to reveal it for fear of being discovered as illegal immigrants.

The majority of the aliens are from India, but a few are from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria. The flow of illegals into the United States numbered about 300 per month, officials said.

INS officials said the illegal immigrants were in most cases transported from India to Moscow to Cuba to the Bahamas or Central America and then to "stash" houses in Florida, New Jersey and elsewhere. Fees were collected from the ring operators at each stage of the shipment.

The operation had concentrated on the East Coast but reached into 38 states. Officials said only 26 work sites have been identified.

Indictments against the cartel leaders were returned in Texas, where the investigation began. A federal grand jury in Dallas charged 31 people in three sealed indictments that contain 58 immigration and money-laundering counts.

Authorities said the investigation is continuing and additional arrests are likely.

Governments on four continents cooperate

Meissner credited international cooperation among governments on four continents with helping bring down the smuggling operation.

She cited law enforcement help from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Canada and India. Meissner said she did not know whether Cuba had been asked to assist, and did not credit Russia with assistance.

Most of the illegal aliens were brought to marinas or within swimming distance of Florida. They remained in stash houses until employers provided the fees for the workers.

None of the employers has been charged in the case yet, but officials said that part of the investigation, called Operation Seek and Keep, continues.

The governments of the Bahamas, Canada, Ecuador, India and Panama cooperated in the investigation, which also involved the FBI, U.S. Customs Service, Internal Revenue Service, State Department and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

After beginning its arrests last week, INS discovered that some of the aliens were being housed in transit countries. Through information provided by INS, Bahamian officials found 31 Indian nationals, and Ecuadorian officials found 30 being held at a smuggler's residence.

The U.S. government is working to give Cuba information about smugglers and 37 Indians held in transit there.

INS uses new powers, laws to investigate

The immigration service used new authority granted under the 1996 immigration law to intercept electronic communications, monitoring more than 35,000 calls during the investigation.

The case also marks the first time federal prosecutors have used money-laundering statutes to dismantle an alien smuggling operation and seize assets, U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins said.

Smuggling profits were shipped to India through Dallas, the Bahamas, Canada, Dubai, Ecuador or the United Arab Emirates, INS said.

CNN Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.