nothing more than a front for organized crime and their piece was to help smugglers in sonora, mexico, bring people across the border through nogales, up to tucson and they would under a veil of legitimacy transport the people to phoenix and then on to places as far as chicago, new york, los angeles. jon: the way the shuttle services supposedly operated is they would be masquerading as legitimate businesses that would take people from northern mexico to cities around the country. one would think the i.d.s or the purposes of businesses of these passengers would be checked as they come across the border. well, in this particular case, they would smuggle the individuals across the border on foot and then match the the smugglers would match the people being smuggled with the shuttle companies in tucson and then on to points in the united states. the key point is the shuttle companies were never legitimate, they were simply