DOC officer one of five arrested in alleged drug smuggling attempt


Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 3:57 PM MDT


Douglas Dispatch


An Arizona Department of Corrections officer from Douglas was one of five individuals arrested in three separate incidents Monday, July 2 for allegedly transporting marijuana into the United States through the Douglas Port of Entry.

Ramon Cruz, 28, applied for entry into the United States when a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer noticed his Department of Corrections uniform with attached badge lying in the back seat of his Ford pickup truck. During primary inspection, the CBP officer asked Cruz to open the center console. When Cruz opened the console, the CBP officer observed brick-shaped packages and referred Cruz for a secondary inspection.

During a secondary inspection, a CBP canine alerted to vehicle’s center console. Officers then removed 19 packages of marijuana with a combined weight of more than 21 pounds and an estimated value of more than $10,500. Cruz was arrested and his uniform and badge were turned over to a criminal investigator from the Arizona Department of Corrections.

In another incident, 23-year-old Joel Soriano and his two 19-year-old passengers, Carmen Torres and Julio Cesar Garcia, were arrested after CBP officers discovered almost 34 pounds of marijuana hidden in Soriano’s 1995 Monte Carlo. The narcotics had an estimated value of nearly $17,000.

The largest seizure, however, resulted from the discovery of a false floor in a 1995 Chevrolet Suburban driven by 38-year-old Robert Dale Alcorn of Phoenix. A canine alerted to the floor area where officers later found and removed more than 600 pounds of marijuana valued in excess of $300,000.

In all three incidents, the subjects were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the narcotics and vehicles were seized by Customs and Border Protection.

 

Comments

    Skippy Thompson wrote on Sep 21, 2012 11:26 AM:

    " Now there's some disheartening comments here, and as a veteran with DOC, I'm saddened by the hate here. In all walks of life, you have a criminal element, but it seems law officers are a little bit more "newsworthy". It's a fact of life, that there will be bad apples, within law enforcement, within the government etc. What do we do?? Sentence them harshly!! Give them an extra bit of time for failing their duties, by breaking the publics trust. Heck, I'm good with that. Check the local paper, see your friends, family members, high school buddies in the police and arrest areas.. Where's the outrage there?? I've seen officers come and go, seen all the alphabet being arrested, charged and convicted. What's better than seeing a dirty cop, officer, of citizen doing time for their stupidity?? And to whomever thinks that closing the prison is going to help, just remember all those expcops are the ones in town picking up your trash, cutting the weeds, and providing slave labor for you. Fire them, and watch Douglas become a heap of trash, not to mention your property taxes quadrupling. BTW I'd love to be on the juries!!! "

    ny wrote on Jul 26, 2012 11:46 AM:

    " Douglas is all drugs. I have seen more stuff there in that small town then living in the bronx ny. The system down there is not good. It will never be good. I just feel bad for the kids down there "

    what the heck wrote on Jul 26, 2012 11:19 AM:

    " I wish people from Mexico that come to US and drag it down like they did Mexico WOULD STAY IN MEXICO AND TAKE ALL U.S. CITIZENS THAT DON'T ABIDE BY US LAWS. "

    fuzzy wrote on Jul 21, 2012 9:15 PM:

    " What is hard to comprehend is the fact that real law enforcement like police, sherrifs, border patrol, etc. are prohibited from living in Mexico yet, the corrupt Arizona DOC system allows its officers to live in Mexico where they can freely comingle with the cartel. When will DOC get a real policy in place to prohibit this practice? They seem to encourage this conduct by allowing them to engage in living in Mexico. What is most pathetic is that when the 45 officers who work at DOC and live in Mexico, cross the border both ways in full uniform. "

    DOC officer wrote on Jul 19, 2012 9:59 AM:

    " Thats what we get when we are desperate to hire people at the prison "

    ashamed to a gringo wrote on Jul 19, 2012 1:45 AM:

    " I have seen first hand DEA agents from SV lie in court and do all kind of illegal things, Also federal judges from Tucson. "

    Jose wrote on Jul 18, 2012 6:43 PM:

    " Hey Ruben give up that 70's "la Raza" crap. Douglas is 95% Mexican heritage. We are the majority not down troden minorities. If there is any prejudice here it is brown against brown or brown against white. Viva Douglas! ! ! "

    Ruben wrote on Jul 17, 2012 7:58 PM:

    " We Mexicans love our Mexican herritage, and if that means some corrupt officers then so be it. If we are truly Mexicans inside we will act like Mexicans, government officiales included. That is the only way we will take over the culture of the U.S. VIVA MEXICO "

    Douglas4life wrote on Jul 17, 2012 7:39 PM:

    " "honest cop" let's see what evidence comes out when luis vasquez goes to trail next month you will see a clear example of dirty CBPO's, B.P, DOC workers at there best. Then I want to hear all the nay sayers that say corruption isn't really that bad here in douglas. My question is this. Why arent there more uncover agents in the prison, more uncover agent trying to comprise dirty B.P and CBPO's? Let me tell you why no one cares because they are all friends! "

    JRB wrote on Jul 16, 2012 6:34 PM:

    " Here is a thought, fire all the guards and cops. Hire "douglas citizen" and his band of "los pobres" and see if they do a better job... Yeh right!! "

    Jesus Rodriguez wrote on Jul 16, 2012 5:27 PM:

    " In response to "mindur business" & "Honest Cop". I think that you both are missing the big picture. You both say that Douglas is not as bad as other cities. Well that might be true, however, remember this, one currupt official is one too many. The whole community should become socialy enraged when this happens. Don't make excuses by saying Douglas is better then other border communities. Stand up and fight all curruption whether it be one person or all of them. You know who is dirty in this town. Don't let them get away with anything. Boldly tell them there kind is not wanted or tollerated in this town. "

    WHAT wrote on Jul 16, 2012 3:03 PM:

    " At Melody, I agree with you, not everyone is corrupt! There are many honest, hard working people at DOC. At Hate Corruption...read what Melody wrote, and stop judgeing everyone! Who is to say that you are not a corrupt person yourself? "

    DOC employee wrote on Jul 16, 2012 11:31 AM:

    " Please do not label all DOC employees as corupt. As in all facits of life there are good and bad. The number of good clearly out number the bad here in at the local prison. We get a print out on all the employees that get let go because of illegal acts from all the prisons located throughout the state and beyond what you believe the Douglas Complex is at the bottom of the list. I do feel that those that work in law enforcement should be held to a higher standard and should be given stiffer sentences. There people from all walks of life that are arrested daily for breaking the law but their place of occupation is not headline news. You choose to tear down the hard work and honorable characters of hundreds of correctional officers because of one individual. Does that seem fair to you? Step back and examine what you are really saying. Is it an embarrasment to those of us who are honest at DOC? Absolutely...BUT the corrupt ones do not define us. "

    mindur business wrote on Jul 15, 2012 11:39 PM:

    " I think u r all really over reacting Douglas is a great town with great people who r honest and hard workers and u all seem to forget things like this and much worse happen everyehere everyday and no one has the right to judge cause we r all the same no one is better then the other it's humen nature to make mistakes that's how we all learn so get a life and stop worring about what other poeple do! "

    Honest Cop wrote on Jul 15, 2012 8:11 PM:

    " "Once again" in my opinion you are only correct in one of the comments you made. Yes we have a couple of bad apples at the prison or working the border, but if you look at the average douglas is low in comparison to the other border towns. Im not saying that it is right, but i think we are going a little overboard here. "

    hates corruption wrote on Jul 15, 2012 5:57 PM:

    " I have to strongly agree with "sad, sad,sad" corruption and illegal activity is deeply embeded into the phyche of Douglas. We do hve this problem because everybody else looks the other way. That is why i seriously think the state should close the prison, move the prisoners to other jails. If you can't get an honest workforce, then move elsewhere where you can. The people of douglas cna't be trusted, they have no integrety. Just like in Mexico. They want to be just like the loosers to our south. "

    Once Again wrote on Jul 14, 2012 2:05 PM:

    " Let's face it guys there are plenty of dirty officers here in douglas, but by far ADOC officers are at the top of the list. I asked one capt. why don't we give more random drug test and he responded that we would have to fire half the workforce and it's hard to keep people as it is and that's sad. Let's not keep it just on the C.O's look at the upcoming trail of CBPO Luis Vasquez (former prison worker), there are numberous counts of dirty B.P. agents and Customs Officers. It's hard to beleive that a female has been dirty on numberous counts and not investigator asked about the father of kid and his known family of drug smuggling :) that's we they do it, no one asks the ? "

    melody wrote on Jul 14, 2012 11:31 AM:

    " Although it's unfortunate that this happened, you cannot catagorize all correctional officers as corrupt! 90% of them are law abiding citizens. Corruption happens everywhere, even the highest level of government. "

    Sad Sad Sad..... wrote on Jul 13, 2012 11:44 PM:

    " DOC probably has no jurisdiction on this all they can do is terminate this scum. This will be a federal case.Hopefully he will receive a lengthy sentence,not just probation.

    A very large number of Corrections Officers are blood connected to the various "Families" Plus many of the CO's are related by blood or by association in growing up together with many of the incarcerated. Many of which are ok with "looking" the other way

    When the prison first arrived in the Douglas area correctional officer corruption was deeply embedded in the psyche of this Town. Douglas has always been associated with smuggling contraband from prohibition days on. A little research will remind some old timers.

    It's all about the big money to be had. As was once said in an interview "everybody has a price be it money or ???."

    Comparative the numbers are now lower (yet to be routed) when compared to other compromised PD, BP, and other alphabet agencies that work the job.

    Though the impact is just the same “Paint them all with a broad brush.”

    There are many Correctional Officers that are true blue defenders of the Constitution that put their tail on the line every single day with the same captive audience. They are not like their road brethren who get to drive off into the sunset to interact with a different bad guy.




    2hBGh "

    Chimichanga wrote on Jul 13, 2012 4:48 PM:

    " Yes, many of them live in Mexico. We see them cross everyday on their way to work. They live their mainly because it's cheaper. They cross wearing their uniforms or with them in the car already. And many also feel they are exempt from getting inspected which is wrong on their part. Many complain when they get inspected both ways but the solution is simple, live in the U.S. and they won't have to worry about getting sent to secondary. Good point on the culture of corruption. Many bring that with them. And yes it is taking over Douglas. In Mexico corruption is ok, but here in the U.S. it's not ok, Its Wrong. "

    hates corruption wrote on Jul 13, 2012 2:04 PM:

    " Since the prison guards smuggle drugs, commit other crimes & live in AP I think AZ should close the Douglas Prison and move the prisoners to other jails. Douglas does not dersive to have a place that offers good paying jobs and puts alot of money into the local ecomony. Close the prison and fire all the guards!!!!! "

    Juan R wrote on Jul 12, 2012 1:43 PM:

    " Why do the prison guards live in AP? Is Mexico running our prisons? I guess they want our prisons to be like theirs, corrupt and evil. I guess the guards are no better then the inmates. Mexico's corrupt and evil culture is taking over the culture of Douglas. I guess that's what the citizens of Douglas want because they don't do nothing to stop it. "

    Chimichanga wrote on Jul 12, 2012 12:38 PM:

    " Deeply Concerned I totally agree with you. All corrupt officials and those with a badge should receive life. I was there when Ramon Cruz was arrested. There is no question, he is guilty. It wasn't his first time smuggling drugs and it wouldn't have been his last time. Another problem is that a lot of the DOC Officers live in Mexico (AP) which im sure is against policy. Hopefully more dirty officers will get caught. "

    Deeply Concerned wrote on Jul 11, 2012 4:35 PM:

    " What is becoming of our country when our public officiales are smuggling drugs? We are taking another step closer to becoming part of the 3rd world. What other crimes are these officers commiting? What about the other police officers? Who is watching them? Any public offical who commits these crimes should go to jail for life, without parole. Them and their families should be made to feel the shame and humiliation for their acts. "

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