Border Patrol has busy weekend

Friday, March 27, agents working east of Douglas successfully arrested 80 people after a Border Patrol Horse Patrol unit tracked their foot sign.

Agents assigned to the Horse Patrol tracked this large group for several hours until they were finally arrested just outside of the Fairchild Ranch.  The group consisted of 79 Mexican males and 1 Mexican female.  All individuals were taken into custody and transported to the Douglas Border Patrol Station for processing. 

As agents documented the alien’s biographical information, their finger prints were entered into the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).  IAFIS returns revealed that 21 of the males in this group of undocumented aliens had prior criminal records; one man was convicted in California for vehicular manslaughter.   

CBP officers seize $318,000 of Marijuana from teens   

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers stopped three  drug-smuggling attempts; seizing more than 190 pounds of marijuana for an approximate street value of $318,000 at the Douglas Port of Entry.  

Over the weekend, CBP Officers were successful in detecting and stopping 3 drug smuggling attempts. The first smuggling attempt was made by an 18-year-old woman from Navajoa, Sonora, Mexico who had more than 70 pounds of marijuana concealed underneath the back-seat of the vehicle she was driving.

The second smuggling attempt was made by an 18-year-old woman from Douglas, when she was apprehended with more than 60 pounds of marijuana concealed in a secret compartment constructed in the back floor of her SUV she was driving.

The third smuggling attempt was made by another Douglas resident who was a 17-year-old boy. He was caught with over 50 pounds of marijuana hidden in his over-sized speaker box placed in the trunk of his vehicle. The estimated street value of all 3 seizures combined was $318,000.

CBP Officers seized the 3 vehicles and marijuana. All 3 teens were turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution.   

The names of those arrested at the port were not provided by Border Patrol.

Gang member  arrested Friday night at Port of Entry

Agents assigned to the Douglas and Willcox Stations apprehended members of the violent drug gang MS-13 over the weekend.

On Friday night, Douglas Station agents caught a Mexican national determined to be an Aggravated Felon, when he was enrolled into the IAFIS system.

During additional questioning by agents, the 27 year old admitted to being part of the notorious Street gang, “Surenos 13.” The person has been presented for prosecution for Illegal Re-entry of an Aggravated Felon. 

On Saturday morning, Willcox agents were dispatched to a vehicle stop that was made by Department of Public Safety along Interstate 10, near Benson. The driver, who is a United States Citizen, admitted to being part of MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha. The 31 year old is facing Alien Smuggling charges.