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JACUMBA, Calif. — Eight men have been charged in an unusual sting that investigators say highlights a new tactic in which immigrant smugglers never leave Mexico. Instead, they use cellphones from border mountaintops to bark out real-time instructions to their customers as they navigate each step of the desert trek into the U.S.
The defendants were part of one of the first immigrant- smuggling rings dismantled on the U.S.-Mexico border that exclusively uses cellphones, employing none of the foot guides commonly used to lead groups across the border, said Derek Benner, a special agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The arrests took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the Los Angeles area.
