Drugs, cash and phony documents seized in joint ICE, DMV bust

RENO, Nev. - Following a lengthy investigation and successful sting operation Thursday, investigators with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles' Compliance Enforcement Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) shut down a major false document factory and arrested four Reno residents on state charges.

A search of two residences resulted in the seizure of computers, printers, card stock and a large amount of cash and narcotics. Those arrested are: David Herrera-Saldana, 40, Susana Trejo-Dominguez, 37, Victor Mendoza-Rios, 38, and Juan Castillo-Baez, 35.

"Anyone who knowingly and indiscriminately creates or sells phony identity cards is putting the security of our communities and even our country at risk," said John Budrewicz, resident agent in charge of ICE HSI in Reno. "Counterfeit documents can potentially be used by dangerous criminals and others who are attempting to obscure their identities and cover their tracks."

Herrera-Saldana was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance (cocaine), felony possession of a controlled substance for sale, felony trafficking and three felony counts of possession of false identification. He's being held on $39,500 bail.

Trejo-Dominguez was charged with three felony counts of transfer of false identity documents and is being held on $6,000 bail.

Mendoza-Rios was charged with one felony count of transfer of false identity documents. His bail is $2,000.

Castillo-Baez was charged with one felony count of transfer of false documents and is being held on $2,000 bail.

The investigation, which also involved the Reno Police Department, is ongoing, with additional charges pending against the four defendants.

This article was sponsored by Police Books.

Police from Nevada

Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three officer from departments within the state of Nevada: David E. Hatch; Lake Headley; and, Jeff Kaye.

Detective David E. Hatch spent more than 27 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. David Hatch joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 1969 after discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1980, as a detective, he joined the homicide section. During his time with homicide, he investigated over 400 homicides and 125 officer-involved shootings.

After retirement in 1997, David Hatch has concentrated on law enforcement related writing and teaching. He is the author of Officer-Involved Shootings and Use of Force: Practical Investigative Techniques, Second Edition (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations).

David Hatch’s book, now in its second edition, “continues to provide sound and sober models, protocols, and procedures to handle the highly charged fall-out from officer involved shootings. Written by cops for cops, it is designed to address the needs of the agency, the rights of the employee, and the concerns of the public, and give law enforcement the policies and tools to properly investigate and document this high profile area.”

In 1957, Lake Headley joined the Clark County Sheriff’s Department (Nevada). After five years Lake Headley resigned because, as he puts it, the Department “more closely resembled a vigilante committee than a law enforcement agency.” Lake Headley launched his own Private Investigations firm and became involved in many interesting, if not extraordinary cases. Lake Headley is the author of Vegas P.I. And, the co-author of the true crime books: Contract Killer; The Court-Martial of Clayton Lonetree; and, Loud and Clear.

According to Lake Headley’s publisher, Vegas P.I is “filled with major crime cases and startling revelations, it chronicles his thirty-five perilous and action-packed years as a first-rank detective defending the disenfranchised and battling crime on the streets of Las Vegas and beyond. He takes us back to a period of gambling history when the Mob ruled the strip and he busted some of the most ingenious scams cheaters ever devised. Headley gives never-revealed details of the famous "Friars Club Cheating Case" in which celebrities such as Phil Silvers, Debbie Reynolds, Tony Martin, and Groucho Marx lost more than a million dollars in a rigged gin rummy game at the exclusive Friars Club in Beverly Hills. Headley chronicles his wild adventures with the legendary bounty hunter "Papa" Ralph Thorson.

Jeff Kaye is a sergeant with the Reno Police Department (Nevada). He has spent the majority of his career working various undercover assignments. He is considered an expert in undercover operations, street level drug enforcement and undercover operative stress syndromes. Jeff Kaye is the author of the novel Two Faces Have I

According to Jeff Kaye’s book description, “Jack Stoner is having a bad day. A psycho thief wants to kill him for being a snitch, a serial killer has set him up as a murder suspect, and he's about to cross paths with an organized crime boss, which will cause a sexy female F.B.I. Agent to enter his life and add to his troubles. On top of all this, he's having problems remembering he is really a cop named Jake Slater, who has been left undercover far too long. Follow him through Nevada's glitter towns on an emotional and action-packed tour of the dirty little secret Law Enforcement calls undercover work.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 643 police officers (representing 282 police departments) and their 1373 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.