Addressing the undocumented

Saugus cop’s course is effective training tool

Drug-dealing illegal immigrants are listing laundromats, corner stores and mailbox rentals as their residential address on Massachusetts driver’s licenses, according to eagle-eyed police officers trained to spot the identity thieves.

The unusual locations are used so often by illegal immigrants that law enforcement officials are calling them “address dumps.”

“I mean, how many guys can be living in one laundromat?” asked Saugus police officer James Scott, who has spearheaded efforts statewide to train cops on how to recognize fraudulently obtained state IDs. He was referring to a Dorchester location that has shown up again and again on the Bay State driver’s licenses of illegal immigrants.

The addresses, scattered across the state in Dorchester, Lawrence, Lynn and other places with large illegal immigrant populations, are usually businesses that include mailbox rentals. Scott said a fellow investigator first noticed the repeatedly used locations.

“We just started seeing the same addresses over and over,” said Scott.

His course, called “Identifying the Imposter,” is often cited on police reports as a training tool after cops have detected that a criminal suspect is an illegal immigrant with a fraudulently obtained ID, usual under a stolen identity.

Quincy police officers, using Scott’s program and working with Massachusetts and New Hampshire state police, unmasked an illegal immigrant named Orlando Negron earlier this year. He was originally arrested for trafficking ‘I mean, how many guys can live in one laundromat?’ — JAMES SCOTT Saugus police officer, who helps train cops how to recognize fraudulent IDs. heroin and was using one of the well-known “address dumps” on his Massachusetts driver’s license.

“It’s a communication center store and they also rent mailboxes at the store. Dozens of imposters use that address,” a Massachusetts state trooper told Scott after he recognized the location and saw it on a number of documents.

Registry of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard declined to comment on the specific addresses cited by Scott, although she said the department keeps a close eye on address abuse.

“The RMV works with a law enforcement unit imbedded at the Registry to investigate reports of fraud and in order to be proactive in training service branch employees to notice trends which may indicate suspicious and possibly criminal activity,” Goddard said in a statement. “In addition, if someone provides false information in a license application, they face criminal penalties and administrative sanctions.”

Scott said he’s tried to alert the RMV about the addresses but hasn’t received a response. His Identifying the Imposter program trains cops to compare the suspect’s date of birth and Social Security number to an FBI database. Illegal immigrants often steal identities of U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico, he said.