Two more arrests made in license fraud ring

Two more arrests have been made in Portales connected to what officials are calling a sophisticated driver's license fraud ring.

Ninth Judicial District Attorney Matthew Chandler said Wednesday that Victoria Diaz and Jose-Luis Tirado surrendered over the weekend to Portales authorities.

Both are being held at the Roosevelt County Detention Center on $10,000 cash only bonds as of Wednesday evening.

In addition to Diaz and Tirado, two others were arrested last week in connection to the ring. In total, nine were charged leaving four suspects at-large and one working on self-surrender.

The group is accused of fraudulently providing hundreds of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants living outside of New Mexico.

The suspects were charged with conspiracy, forgery and other felony charges for fraudulently using residential addresses in Portales and Clovis and falsifying other documents to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses.

The Motor Vehicle Department reported to Chandler's office in November that numerous appointment were being made to obtain driver's licenses from a few residential addresses in Portales. This report sparked the investigation.

Diaz, a 37-year-old certified public notary from Portales, resided at one of the residential addresses being used on Motor Vehicle Department documents.

Police said Diaz admitted to officers that she was receiving money to sign those documents. According to Chandler, this was the first big break in the investigation.

Diaz was charged with 12 counts of forgery, 22 counts of conspiracy to commit altered, forged or fictitious license; and three counts of false evidence title and registration.

Tirado, 33, is a foreign national living in Portales. He was charged with forging residential affidavits for three other foreign nationals so they could obtain their driver's licenses.

Luis Raul Collazo-Medrano, 52, an undocumented foreign national from Mexico, and his wife and daughter are accused of running the ring. They still remain at large at this time.

Investigators from the 9th Judicial District and the Tax Revenue Department worked together to uncover the fraud ring.