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FORT WORTH -- Nine men, all thought to be illegal immigrants, were arrested last week after a six-month investigation into an operation making fake government documents, a police spokesman said Monday.
Investigators found that the men were making the documents -- mainly resident alien cards, drivers’ licenses and Social Security cards -- using low-end computer equipment, Sgt. Pedro Criado, a police spokesman, said The men found customers by handing out business cards in places such as coin laundries.“It was a low-cost operation,” Criado said. “It was yielding pretty good money because it wasn’t costing them a whole lot of overhead.”The investigation, which involved members of the Fort Worth police gang and intelligence units, the Secret Service and ICE, was prompted by a Crime Stoppers tip.Officers searched two Fort Worth residences, seizing equipment believed used in the operation, he said. Evidently, the men were making the documents in their closets, he said.The men, all arrested Thursday, were identified as: Jose Mancera-Rosas, 36; Ricardo Solano Moran, 38; Omar Virrueta Gomez, 28; Jonathan Melgar Verdago, 20; Guillermo Blanco Lastra, 19; Felipe de Jesus Reyes, 31; Arturo Guajardo Correa, 39; Juan Andres Puga, 25; and Fernando Garcia Perez, 34.They face charges of engaging in organized crime/tampering with government records. They were in the Mansfield jail Monday with bail set at $25,000 each. But all were also on immigration holds, which means they will not be allowed to post bail and leave jail, jail records show.
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