DOJ: 50 charged in Island Express Puerto Rican identity trafficking

On January 11, 2012 the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury had charged 50 people in an unsealed indictment in Puerto Rico with conspiracy to commit identity fraud (Operation Island Express). The indictment was returned December 29, 2011 and unsealed that day; arrests followed in multiple U.S. districts and Puerto Rico. This note follows the official DOJ release: charge ≠ conviction.

According to the indictment, from at least April 2009 through December 2011, conspirators in 15 states and Puerto Rico trafficked identities of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens — including Social Security cards and birth certificates — to undocumented persons and other U.S. residents. Suppliers in the Savarona (Caguas) area obtained the identities; mainland brokers solicited clients and sold document packages for $700 to $2,500 per set.

Brokers ordered documents from Savarona suppliers with coded calls (“shirts”, “uniforms”, “clothes”; “skirts”/“pants” and “sizes” for sex and age). Initial payments were often sent by money transfers to names given by the suppliers. Clients used the documents to obtain licenses or other IDs, or for financial fraud and passports — according to DOJ allegations.

The investigation was coordinated nationally (Criminal Division, USAO-PR, ICE-HSI and others). A superseding indictment and Island Express II cases came later; this note fixes the Jan 11, 2012 peg. Primary: justice.gov archives OPA. The DOJ release does not adjudicate guilt: it describes alleged pending charges. This note invents no amounts or names outside the release. Nationally coordinated operation.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/50-individuals-charged-puerto-rico-allegedly-trafficking-identities-puerto-rican-us-citizens