Calexico, Calif. - Today, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Calexico station arrested four men after they attempted to smuggle several large bundles of marijuana across the U.S.-Mexico Border.
The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m., after Border Patrol agents operating a remote video surveillance system observed three men cross the border with seven large bundles of suspected narcotics. The three illegal entrants then loaded six of the seven bundles into a pickup truck which fled north of the scene before being pulled over by responding agents. The driver of the truck was arrested and the vehicle and bundles were seized.
Border Patrol agents searching the area located the seventh bundle and arrested the three illegal alien smugglers as they attempted to abscond. The substance inside the bundles was later tested and found to be marijuana. The illegal narcotics weighed approximately 375 pounds and were given an estimated street value of more than $300,000.
The driver of the pickup truck--a U.S. citizen--and three illegal aliens were arrested and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the pickup truck and marijuana.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.