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The New York Times Archives

Federal immigration raids on small groceries and other businesses in the predominantly Hispanic Washington Heights section of Manhattan are seizing large sums of cash and illegal weapons and causing widespread concern among shopkeepers and customers.

Officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said they have conducted more than two dozen raids in Washington Heights since January. They say the raids are part of the agency’s usual efforts directed at aliens suspected of illegal activities and have been carried out legally.

But the raids have touched a nerve in Upper Manhattan, particularly in Dominican neighborhoods. Community leaders say the nature of the raids has changed in the last few months, going beyond the mere search for illegal aliens.

A group of seven bodegas has complained that immigration inspectors have entered their shops without warrants, asked customers and employees for identity documents and seized large amounts of money, said Adriano Espaillat of the group called the Coalition for Community Concerns. The complaints have received wide attention in the Spanish-language press.

Several community leaders said the raids are causing mistrust of the Federal Government, hurting census efforts.

Frank E. Deale, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, denounced the raids as unconstitutional and the seizures of money as pure theft. After meeting last week with community representatives, he said the center would assess the legality of the raids.

‘’The I.N.S. has the obligation to come forward and explain what the raids are about because they are having a devastating chilling effect on our huge effort to have people come out and be counted,’’ said Councilman Stanley E. Michels of northern Manhattan.

The 8,000 or more groceries, called bodegas, play a vital role in the city’s fast-growing Latino community, serving as mom-and-pop stores, social clubs, banks and neighborhood exchanges. They habitually deal in cash - a good bodega can make $25,000 to $50,000 a week - and for this reason are often victims of holdups.

But police investigations in the last few years have found that some bodegas have been used by organized crime for drug trafficking, numbers games and money laundering.

Community leaders generally favor the raids on drug trafficking and other illegal activities. But they say they do not understand why the immigration service is involved in the raids and why immigration officials are asking for identification and confiscating money.

Charles Troy, an immigration service spokesman, said the investigation into illegal activities of aliens is within the service’s jurisdiction.

The raids have resulted in the discovery of 36 illegal aliens, 17 criminal arrests and 19 seizures of evidence like gambling receipts, narcotics and firearms, Mr. Troy said.