I believe in legal immigration. I am against all forms of trafficking. It is shocking to read the fraud and violence that is occurring in Texas, that the US DOJ filed charges against. I hope that this case, will contribute to reduced crime, violence, corruption, fraud.
This case is about vehicles, but it is just one way, that goods and people, are being laundered.(There are honest non-profits and attorneys that help immigrants and refugees; even if you're already here illegally. If someone is fleeing violence, terrorism, and is honest, except for their "papers", there are agencies set-up in the US to help you with the process of establishing citizenship. There is never any reason to do things unlawfully, nor to hurt people; if anyone tells you so - it's coercion/abuse. I truly wish, that all good people, who are trying to do the right thing, feel like they can access the right resources, to gain help. The process is long and can be slow if resources are limited, but it will be worth it in the end.)
Charges Include Use of Violence, Threats and Extortion to Fix Prices, Allocate the Market and Eliminate Competition
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced the unsealing of an 11-count indictment charging 12 individuals in a long-running, multi-faceted conspiracy to monopolize the transmigrante forwarding industry in the Los Indios, Texas, border region near Harlingen and Brownsville, Texas. Transmigrantes are individuals who transport used vehicles and other goods from the United States through Mexico for resale in Central America. Transmigrante forwarding agencies are businesses that provide services to transmigrante clients, including helping those clients complete the customs paperwork required to export vehicles into Mexico.
“The indictment charges that defendants monopolized an industry through horrific violence and threats of violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The department will use all the tools at its disposal – including Section 2 of the Sherman Act – to target anticompetitive conduct that undermines our country’s economic vitality and freedom.”
“As alleged, this criminal organization committed heinous acts of violence against those who would not participate in its illegal activities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Together with our partners, we are committed to dismantling violent enterprises that victimize individuals simply trying to earn an honest living.”
Read more: https://lnkd.in/ge2qV-EW