PHOENIX – A 42-year-old man from Mexico has been arrested and charged with harboring and “knowingly employing unauthorized aliens” at his taco restaurants in the Phoenix area, authorities said.

Blademir Angulo Audeves was arrested on July 8. Other charges included improper entry by an alien and alien in possession of a firearm.

A complaint filed in the case states that in March 2025 Homeland Security Investigations began investigating allegations that he was employing people without work authorization at his businesses.

“Through the investigation, HSI identified at least 12 illegal aliens working for Angulo, some of whom were living at Angulo’s home in Laveen, Arizona or at a second residence on 16th Avenue,” a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Arizona district, stated.

HSI executed federal search warrants on Angulo’s residence and restaurant locations on July 8, as well as the 16th Avenue residence.

Inside the two residences, agents encountered several Mexican citizens without legal permission to be in the United States. Agents also arrested Angulo without incident, according to the release.

Agents found three firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in  a master bedroom closet.

The release stated: “According to immigration records, Angulo, a Mexican national, was encountered by authorities in 2011 while illegally present in the United States, and eventually left the country via Nogales, Arizona pursuant to a voluntary departure in May 2021.

“When he was arrested on July 8, Angulo did not have legal permission to be in the United States and was therefore prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.”

HSI agents also found Mexican citizens without legal permission to be present or employed in the United States legally at his restaurants, officials said.

The release continued: “Two of the illegal aliens that HSI encountered while executing the warrants as part of this operation, Christian Sagaste-Garcia and Jose Luis Ambriz-Cortes, were also arrested and separately charged with Re-entry of a Removed Alien. Sagaste-Garcia and Ambriz-Cortez were previously removed from the United States in October 2024 and February 2013, respectively.”

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