Three men are facing criminal charges of trying to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses by using documents that falsely claim residence in the state.
State Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla says 39-year-old Felipe Paez-Martinez and 38-year-old Melchor Mayancele-Guallpa paid at least $1,100 each to get fake residential documents from 27-year-old Manuel Calzadias-Valenz of Albuquerque.
Paez-Martinez is a Mexican citizen who lives in Georgia while Mayancele-Guallpa is an Ecuadorian from New York.
The men were arrested Wednesday after they arrived in Albuquerque to get their New Mexico driver's licenses.
Padilla says Calzadias-Valenz told investigators he has been helping immigrants living outside New Mexico get state driver's licenses by giving them false residency documentation for $1,000 to $1,200 apiece.
State and federal authorities say they are continuing their investigation of Calzadias-Valenz.
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