NELSON/BOTTINEAU COUNTIES, N.D. (KFGO) – A traffic stop in Nelson County in northeastern North Dakota resulted in the arrests of several illegal immigrants in Bottineau County in north-central North Dakota.
The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy stopped a pickup for speeding on US Highway 2 Saturday. The driver, 38-year-old Renaldo Rafael-Mendoza, did not have a driver’s license and failed DUI tests. A purse belonging to 49-year-old Petrona Manzur had a fake ID card and fake social security card, both in Rafael-Mendoza’s name.
A search of the car turned up a machete hidden under the back seat, drugs and drug paraphernalia, and open alcohol containers. Rafael-Mendoza, Manzur, and another passenger, 31-year-old Jose Sanchez, were arrested and taken to the jail in Devils Lake. All were living in the St. Louis, Missouri area.
Rafael-Mendoza is charged with felony counterfeiting, DUI, and possession of a fake ID. Manzur is charged with counterfeiting, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of a fake ID. Sanchez is charged with giving a false report to law enforcement and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Officers learned the three were all in the U.S. illegally, and were on their way to a hotel on Lake Metigoshe to pick up more illegal immigrants and bring them back to the St. Louis metro. Border Patrol agents went to the hotel, and arrested a half-dozen illegal immigrants, according to court documents.
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