The Human Smuggling statute (A.R.S. § 13-2319), which became effective on August 28, 2005, makes it a class 4 felony to knowingly smuggle undocumented aliens for profit in Arizona. In response to this new statute, the Attorney General has formed a Border Trafficking Team to combat human smuggling. The Trafficking Team is composed of investigators, prosecutors and asset forfeiture attorneys from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office who work in conjunction with the Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force and other law enforcement agencies.

Human smugglers, often known as “coyotes,” include not just those that physically transport the undocumented aliens, but also those in the chain that receive and launder the money for transporting the undocumented aliens and those that guard the undocumented aliens in the “stash houses,” awaiting illegal transportation to all parts of the United States. Additionally, some of these coyotes are also involved in illicit drug trafficking.

These coyote networks are organized crime syndicates that conduct racketeering operations. The Trafficking Team therefore prosecutes these coyotes for not only human smuggling, but also for such felonies as money laundering, conducting illegal enterprises and criminal syndicates, fraud schemes and drug trafficking. The Trafficking Team’s mission is to destroy the various coyote networks by convicting their members of felonies, putting them in jail or prison and taking away their money and assets.

As of October 2006, the Trafficking Team has filed criminal charges against 58 coyotes.

The Attorney General also has a program in place to block payments made to coyotes. Through court-ordered financial seizure warrants, the Attorney General has attacked coyotes and disrupted their operations by seizing approximately $17 million that was otherwise destined for coyote organizations.

Message from Attorney General Goddard – Acting to Stop Human Smugglers