WESTBROOK – Federal officials are now acknowledging 10 workers were taken into custody during raids on three Mexican restaurants in Maine two weeks ago, including the Fajita Grill in Westbrook, and eight of them now face charges of having false documents.

A release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maine indicated Santos Herasmo Elias-Lopez, Esteban Lopez-Cruz, Salvador Carmona-Ramirez, Enrique Ruiz-De La Cruz, Ernesto Bravo-Rodriguez and Arturo Serrato-Rodriguez have all been charged with one count each of possession of false lawful permanent resident and Social Security cards.

In addition, Zaqueo Nectali Elias-Lopez and Catalino Lopez-Gomez have been charged with possession of false documents and unlawful presence in the United States.

“The defendants are Mexican and Guatemalan citizens who were encountered by authorities executing search warrants at the Fajita Grill Mexican Restaurant in Westbrook, the Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Waterville, the Cancun Mexican Restaurant II in Biddeford, and residences associated with those restaurants,” the office’s statement read.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the possession of false documents charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The unlawful presence charges each carry a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison. On each count, the defendants also face fines of up to $250,000 and a probation term.

Chuck Jackson, a spokesman for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said this week that two other unnamed individuals are being held on “administrative immigration violations.”

The charges follow raids on Sept. 21, when agents raided all three restaurants. During the raids, federal agents also arrested Guillermo and Hector Fuentes, the restaurants’ owners, on one count each of harboring illegal aliens, a felony, and engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring illegal aliens for employment, a misdemeanor.

According to court records, Hector Fuentes was released on $10,000 cash bail, while Guillermo was released on $3,000 cash bail. The Fajita Grill and the Cancun have both re-opened, while on Monday night this week, the Cancun II appeared to remain closed, and the restaurant has not answered several attempts to reach anyone there by telephone.

The investigation, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, began in 2008, after Westbrook Police Capt. Tom Roth informed federal agents that Westbrook police officers had stopped several vehicles and spoken to known employees of Fajita Grill who claimed to be Mexican citizens and had no U.S.-issued identification.

In his complaint, Special Agent James O. Bell said Guillermo Fuentes, while working as a manager at El Potrillo, a Mexican restaurant in Atlanta, Ga., recruited more than a dozen illegal aliens from Mexico, and put them on a Greyhound bus to come up to Maine to work at Fajita Grill. Many of the workers, Bell said, worked at the other restaurants, too.

In addition, Bell’s report alleged as many as 11 illegal immigrant workers lived in the basement of the Fajita Grill, and Guillermo Fuentes lied about that fact to Rick Gouzie, the city’s code enforcement officer.

Jackson said the raids were not related to the nationwide sting last week where federal agents arrested more than 2,000 people they said were illegal immigrants involved in serious crimes.

The release from the U.S. Attorney, dated Sept. 30, is the first public acknowledgement that federal agents detained other people in addition to the Fuentes brothers during the Sept. 21 raids. When asked if there were any additional detainees beyond the Fuentes brothers and the eight people mentioned in the Sept. 30 release, the U.S. Attorney’s office referred inquiries to the federal agency.

Chuck Jackson, a spokesman for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, said this week via email that agents arrested a total of 12 people during the raids, and acknowledged that two of them, whose identities were not released, are still in custody.

“In addition to the 10 individuals arrested on criminal charges last month, ICE arrested two other individuals on administrative immigration violations. Both remain in ICE custody pending further administrative proceedings,” Jackson wrote.

Reporter Kate Irish Collins contributed to this story.