PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix taco restaurant owner who is in the U.S. illegally was charged in federal court this week after investigators said he hid and employed people in the U.S illegally.
Forty-two-year-old Blademir Angulo Audeves was arrested on Tuesday and indicted on immigration charges. He owns Taqueria El Taco Loko on Indian School Road, a taco trailer that usually operates in Laveen and a taco bus that is usually in Maricopa.
Court paperwork said that during the investigation that started in March, Homeland Security Investigations agents identified 12 people in the U.S. illegally who were working for him. Some of them were living at his house in Laveen or at his second home on 16th Avenue (no other cross street was given), court paperwork said.
On Tuesday, agents searched his homes, restaurant and the taco truck and trailer. Along with the undocumented workers, agents said they found three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
After being arrested, Audeves told agents he didn’t bring people from Mexico into the U.S. but hired people already in Arizona, court papers said. He admitted to paying his workers in cash and checks, often off the books, agents said. He also reportedly said the three guns were gifts.
Prosecutors said he denied that employees paid him fees for coming into the U.S. and only lent them money after they were in America.
After the raid, agents interviewed the workers. According to the court paperwork, multiple employees said Audeves paid for or arranged their illegal entry into the U.S. at a price of up to $12,000 per person, and he expected to be repaid for the smuggling fees through money or by working for him.
Prosecutors said Audeves came to the U.S. illegally in 2011 and voluntarily left the U.S. in May 2021. He admitted to coming back illegally in August 2021.
The criminal complaint against Audeves was filed on Thursday, and he’s charged with one count of improper entry by an alien, one count of harboring illegal aliens, illegally possessing a firearm and knowingly employing unauthorized aliens.
He made his initial court appearance in federal court on Friday.
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