COSTA MESA
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Six Costa Mesa residents have been charged with helping to smuggle undocumented immigrants across the U.S. border for a fee, officials from the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Officers with the Immigration and Naturalization Services made the arrests near 19th Street and Placentia Avenue on Monday.
Josephina Cruz-Ibarra, Catalina Ramirez-Reyes, Idolina Ramirez-Reyes, Miguel Plancorte-Sanchez, Rito Arzante-Picasso and Armando Roman-Flores allegedly smuggled dozens of Mexican citizens from the U.S.-Mexican border to Costa Mesa, said William M. Crawford, an agent with the INS anti-smuggling unit.
The undocumented immigrants allegedly crossed the border with the help of three guides, or “coyotes,” Crawford said in the report.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Feb. 8 at the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Arraignment has been set for Feb. 14.
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