A federal investigation into human smuggling in north Phoenix culminated earlier this month in the discovery of 19 people being held inside a residential property, the arrest of three suspects and the unraveling of what court documents suggest is an organized cross-border operation with roots in Mexico.
Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant on March 2nd at a home on West Desert Cove Avenue — referred to in court filings as the “Ark Apartment” — and found 19 individuals who had been illegally transported across the U.S.-Mexico border. All were taken to the ICE Phoenix Field Office for processing. At least one person found inside the home told agents their intended final destination was Tennessee, underscoring the operation’s reach well beyond Arizona.
Two men described in court records as load drivers and caretakers of the property — Gabriel Garcia-Lopez and Alvaro Ojeda-Gomez — were arrested at the scene. A second location tied to the investigation, on North 17th Avenue, was also searched. There, agents stopped a man and woman attempting to leave in a white Chevrolet Equinox.
The man, identified as Iven Jair Jonathan Monjarez-Perez, told agents he is a Mexican national without legal status in the United States. He described his role in the operation in detail, saying he was paid $100 for each person he successfully moved into the Ark Apartment, that he supervised Garcia-Lopez and Ojeda-Gomez, and that he ultimately answered to an individual known only as “Pinki,” based in Mexico.
Ojeda-Gomez also acknowledged being in the country without legal documentation. Garcia-Lopez declined to speak without an attorney present.
All three men now face federal conspiracy charges alleging they worked together to transport individuals who had entered the country unlawfully. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
