Get the Facts: Oklahoma home raided by ICE is owned by human smuggling suspect

By Chantelle Navarro

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    OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — A raid at an Oklahoma home received national attention after a story by a local news outlet this week, and it has been used as part of the ongoing fight over immigration in the U.S.

A special KOCO 5 investigation set out to get the facts on exactly what happened.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents were carrying out a court-approved search warrant for a large-scale human smuggling operation when they raided a home in northwest Oklahoma City on Thursday.

An indictment shows that Cidia Marleny Lima Lopez is allegedly a major player in the human smuggling case that agents have been working for years.

The Department of Homeland Security officials said they have proof the group transported people from Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, Central South America and China, then concealed and harbored those undocumented people all across the country.

Records show that she owns the home that was raided as well as another one in Oklahoma City. Eight arrests were made in that investigation, which was years in the making and not part of any new immigration enforcement.

We know four homes have been raided in Oklahoma City as part of the human smuggling investigation by DHS and ICE agents.

The home raided on Thursday was the target of U.S. Homeland Security and immigration agents.

A senior official for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told KOCO 5 that agents were serving a search warrant that listed that home. They said the people inside at the time were U.S. citizens who had recently moved in.

The previous residents were the intended targets of the raid.

Legally, if the warrant is for the home and not just a specific individual, agents have the right to enter.

“When a search warrant is issued and signed by a judge, it very much specifies the location. It specifies what objects they can search or if they’re there to detain certain individuals,” Lorena Rivas with Rivas & Associates said. “It’s like you could take these kinds of items.”

“Most of the time when Ice agents are looking for specific individuals, they will have an administrative order of arrest,” Rivas said.

The indictment obtained by KOCO 5 shows eight Guatemalan nationals were the targets of the investigation as part of the “Lima Lopez Transnational Criminal Organization.” Their charges range from drugs, fraud, money laundering to re-entry after deportation.

The investigation has gone on for four years, prior to any recent changes to ICE policies.

Investigators said they were charging about $5,000 a person to enter the country illegally.

KOCO 5 tried knocking on the door of the home that was raided to ask the family if they could tell us any more details about what happened, but nobody answered.

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