18 arrested in ICE-led raid at Houston flea market | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Federal agents on Saturday raided a Houston flea market and arrested 18 suspects wanted in connection with selling fraudulent documents, authorities said.
More than 100 federal agents and local police served the federal arrest warrants Saturday afternoon at the Sunny Flea Market, located on Airline Drive near Gulf Bank Road.
The members of a multi-agency anti-fraud task force piled out of unmarked trucks and vans around 2 p.m.
Witnesses reported that some agents screamed "Don't run!" in Spanish as people fled the flea market.
Michael Feinberg, the acting special agent in charge for investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston, declined to provide details on Saturday about the specific type of document fraud the suspects were accused of committing, saying they were selling a "variety of IDs."
Lance Solano, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant from Guerrero, Mexico, said he was at the flea market shopping for phone cards when he heard yelling and saw the agents pouring out of vehicles.
Solano said he was detained with the other shoppers for about 20 minutes.
"They checked my (Mexican) consular ID card, and then they let me go," Solano said.
Feinberg said agents were targeting only the suspects identified in the criminal arrest warrants and were not making immigration arrests at the flea market.
Saturday's arrests mark the first large-scale investigation for Houston's ICE-led Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, one of 19 nationwide.
The local task force includes HPD, the Department of Public Safety and several federal agencies, Feinberg said.
From April 2006 through January 2010, ICE's fraud task forces initiated more than 2,474 investigations, helped bring about 1,681 indictments and 2,020 criminal arrests, and resulted in 1,493 convictions, according to the agency.
Feinberg said document fraud is an agency priority because it could potentially involve a "national security vulnerability" if someone who is a "high threat" assumes a false identity.
Federal agents on Saturday raided a Houston flea market and arrested 18 suspects wanted in connection with selling fraudulent documents, authorities said.
More than 100 federal agents and local police served the federal arrest warrants Saturday afternoon at the Sunny Flea Market, located on Airline Drive near Gulf Bank Road.
The members of a multi-agency anti-fraud task force piled out of unmarked trucks and vans around 2 p.m.
Witnesses reported that some agents screamed "Don't run!" in Spanish as people fled the flea market.
Michael Feinberg, the acting special agent in charge for investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston, declined to provide details on Saturday about the specific type of document fraud the suspects were accused of committing, saying they were selling a "variety of IDs."
Lance Solano, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant from Guerrero, Mexico, said he was at the flea market shopping for phone cards when he heard yelling and saw the agents pouring out of vehicles.
Solano said he was detained with the other shoppers for about 20 minutes.
"They checked my (Mexican) consular ID card, and then they let me go," Solano said.
Feinberg said agents were targeting only the suspects identified in the criminal arrest warrants and were not making immigration arrests at the flea market.
Saturday's arrests mark the first large-scale investigation for Houston's ICE-led Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, one of 19 nationwide.
The local task force includes HPD, the Department of Public Safety and several federal agencies, Feinberg said.
From April 2006 through January 2010, ICE's fraud task forces initiated more than 2,474 investigations, helped bring about 1,681 indictments and 2,020 criminal arrests, and resulted in 1,493 convictions, according to the agency.
Feinberg said document fraud is an agency priority because it could potentially involve a "national security vulnerability" if someone who is a "high threat" assumes a false identity.
