The owner of taco stands in the Phoenix area, Blademir Angulo Audeves, who is illegally present in the U.S., was arrested on July 8, and charged by criminal complaint for Harboring of an Illegal Alien, Knowingly Employing Unauthorized Aliens, Improper Entry by an Alien, and Alien in Possession of a Firearm.
According to court documents, the 42-year-old Angulo owns Taqueria El Taco Loko, located on Indian School Road in Phoenix, and at two mobile restaurants, a Taco Bus and a Taco Trailer. The Taco Trailer typically operates at 5501 W. Baseline Road in Laveen Village, and the Taco Bus typically operates in Maricopa.
According to the complaint filed in this case, in March 2025, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began investigating allegations that Angulo was employing illegal aliens without work authorization at his taco restaurants in the Phoenix area. 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.
On July 8, HSI executed federal search warrants on Angulo’s residence and restaurant locations, 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.
At Angulo’s residence, agents found three firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the master bedroom closet. 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.
At Angulo’s taco restaurant locations, HSI agents also found Mexican citizens without legal permission to be present or employed in the United States legally.
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.