Las Cruces, New Mexico – Border Patrol Agents at the United States Border Patrol Checkpoint located near Las Cruces, New Mexico made two significant apprehensions, seized cash and a weapon overnight within a three-hour period.
Wednesday night, 25 year-old U.S. Citizen, Jamari Joshua Johnson drove up to the USBP Checkpoint on Interstate 10-west. Due to Johnson’s mannerisms and inconsistency in his travel origin and destination, the primary Agent decided to further investigate him. When records checks were conducted, it was revealed that he had an active warrant for “Menacing” out of Denver, Colorado, and a bench warrant out of New Orleans, Louisiana for “Possession-with-Intent-to-Distribute Marijuana”. When Agents searched Johnsons’ vehicle, they found a loaded Smith & Wesson .40 caliber weapon, spare ammunition and a bag containing over $10,000 in U.S. currency. The loaded firearm was located within arm’s reach of the subject. Johnson was turned over to the custody of New Mexico State Police, while the currency, ammunition and weapon were seized by U.S. Border Patrol.
Later that evening, Las Cruces Border Patrol Agents boarded a commercial bus en route to Los Angeles, CA and encountered 52-year old, Alfredo Zambrano-Lombera, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Zambrano presented agents a fraudulent Texas Driver’s License and a valid Illinois Driver’s License that did not match his name. After a query of Zambrano’s records, it was discovered he had an extensive criminal history in Texas and Louisiana dating from 1985 to 2011, including “drug possession, sexual assault, sexual offense against a child and drug trafficking”, among others. Besides an extensive criminal history, Zambrano’s immigration history revealed he was originally ordered to be deported from the U.S. on September of 2001, once again in 2006, and most recently on March 21, 2014.
Being a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, Zambrano’s original deportation will be reinstated and he will be charged with “re-entry”. He is pending removal from the U.S. at the Otero County Prison Facility in New Mexico.
“U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints continue to be highly effective in halting smuggling and other illicit activity from reaching the interior of the United States, and this is just one more example of that,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey D. Self said.
These incidents demonstrate how vigilance by U.S. Border Patrol Agents and officer diligence is combating the furtherance of wanted criminals into our community, while keeping our nation’s borders safe.