Post by Scumhunter on Jun 28, 2015 7:43:38 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: amw.com archives)
Fugitive Profile as of June 28th, 2015: (Based on ICE website)
Alias: Antonio Antunez Roman, Antonio Antunez Sotelo, Antonio Antunez, "El Tony" or "Don Tony"
Date of Birth: April 9, 1963 (52 years old)
Place of Birth: Mexico
Skin Tone: Medium
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 200 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Gender: Male
Scars/Marks: Scar above left eye
Last Known Location: Tijuana, Mexico, or San Diego, California
Occupation: Handyman
TIPS: If you have information about the whereabouts of Mario Antunez-Sotelo, immediately contact your local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office or call the national hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE as soon as possible!
Mario Antunez-Sotelo is considered one of the most wanted human traffickers in America. He was a web-exclusive case on AMW's old website. Below is the archive description of the case:
Northern Dreams
Among the tattered and poor homes that dot Mexico's arid landscape, many families dream of someday making their way to America, where promises of steady work and cushy living conditions tempt many to make incredible sacrifices.
Meanwhile, a man listens to the whispers of dreams to go north. He knows that so many hard-working Mexicans want to make a new life for themselves, and that they would do anything to make it happen.
With this one-sided bargain in mind, he visits their homes.
A Man With A Plan
Mario Antonio Antunez-Sotelo's ideas sounded very appealing. Not only would he take young workers across the border, but once in the USA, he would find them everything they needed-- housing, food, transportation and a job.
But the great deal he offered wasn't without a hefty price to pay -- families would have to put up thousands of dollars just to get started. But cops say Antunez-Sotelo seemed sympathetic to their plight, and once again offered them something few would -- the chance to pay their debts in installments.
It seems like a good deal, and Antunez-Sotelo spent lots of time getting to know many families in order to get them to pay him for his services. Once he gained their trust, he usually gained their money. And with that, Antunez-Sotelo put his plan in motion. He would drive the "recruit" to a bus station in a border town, then pick them up once they were smuggled across the border.
And that's when authorities say the hell began.
Sneaking Into Slavery
Once inside the United States, Antunez-Sotelo found his recruits the legitimate jobs he promised them -- maid services, construction jobs, restaurant work.
Most recruits found a home in the San Diego apartments Antunez-Sotelo set aside for them. But "home" could only be used in the loosest sense -- the living conditions were deplorable.
And the recruits owed Antunez-Sotelo money for everything he gave them -- the housing, the transportation even food. Authorities say Antunez-Sotelo wasn't giving them a great deal -- even a ride to work would cost a small fortune.
The recruits could afford little else. Antunez-Sotelo charged them for every little thing, putting them in debt bondage, and engineering a system of new charges and garnishing their paychecks so that they could never, ever pay their way out of their slavery.
But there was never an uprising against Antunez-Sotelo, probably because of something he planted with all his recruits from the very start:
He threatened to take anyone who disobeyed to the desert at gunpoint and leave them there without food or water. Even worse, he claimed to have a video of himself cutting the throat of a previous recruit who thought to get out of line. And if any recruits ever caused him trouble, he threatened to send a hit man back to Mexico to massacre their families.
And there were the whispers of the videotapes no one wanted to see -- Antunez-Sotelo claimed he had videos of himself cutting throats and decapitating people who didn't obey his wishes.
Authorities with Immigration and Customs Enforcement believe Antunez-Sotelo has been running his human trafficking and alien smuggling ring since at least 2006, but he was first arrested in 1987 for smuggling. He's been arrested twice for driving under the influence, which yielded a couple of mugshots.
Antunez-Sotelo goes by the nicknames, "El Tony" or "Don Tony." He's a handyman by trade, and may be spending time between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.
Thoughts? I put 2007 as the wanted year since that's the year the ICE website says the federal arrest warrant was issued, but, make no mistake, this guy has been doing this since the 1980's and he's probably still taking advantage of those seeking a better life today. Whether Antunez-Sotelo's claims of him beheading people was true or not, we've seen in other cases of human smuggling that the victims can still die as a result of the conditions they're in, or even on their way to where they'll be "working."
web.archive.org/web/20110830230140/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=76434#case
www.ice.gov/most-wanted/antunez-sotelo-mario
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