The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office arrested Felipe Sales-Mendez and Jose Garcia for human smuggling after an Oct. 17 traffic stop revealed 14 illegal aliens inside the vehicle on Interstate 40 near Holbrook. Felipe Sales-Mendez, 34, and Jose Garcia, 22, were booked into the Navajo County Jail in Holbrook at the request of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Detainers were obtained for the other illegal alien suspects inside the vehicle held in the Navajo County Jail. All will be turned over to the DHS, which is assisting in the investigation. All occupants of the vehicle were in the U.S. illegally. They included residents of Guatemala, Ecuador and Mexico. One of the occupants told deputies that they paid $15,000 to be smuggled into the United States. The vehicle that was used for illegal activity is subject to seizure, along with the currency that Sales-Mendez and Garcia possessed.
