WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Three Michigan residents have been charged in Washington in a scheme to bring illegal aliens from the Middle East, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Neeran "Nancy" Hakim Zaia, Basima "Linda" Sesi and Basil "Jack" Yousif Denha were arrested Wednesday morning in the Detroit area. The three are Iraqi-born naturalized U.S. citizens and residents of Sterling Heights, a suburb of Detroit, the department said.
The Michigan residents are charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Washington last week and unsealed Wednesday.
The indictment said Zaia owned a business called Universal Investment & Law Services, which she used as a conduit for alleged alien smuggling activities, advertising in Detroit media outlets, including an Arab-language magazine.
Zaia and a co-conspirator also allegedly operated "Saudi-Jordan," a travel agency located in Amman, Jordan, and met there with migrants who wished to enter the United States, the department said.
The illegal aliens allegedly were taken to South America before being smuggled into the United States.
