Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents intervened during two recent attempts by U.S. citizens to smuggle Mexican nationals into the country.
At the I-19 checkpoint on Nov. 3, a canine alerted to a white Ford Expedition in which agents discovered an undocumented Mexican national locked in an after-market compartment with no way to escape in case of an emergency. The driver, an adult male U.S. citizen, and the undocumented alien were taken into custody.
The day before, agents assigned to the Brian A. Terry station stopped a silver Honda Accord in Bisbee. After agents identified the driver and one passenger as U.S. citizens, and a third occupant as an undocumented man from Mexico, they searched the vehicle and found a loaded .45-caliber handgun and 79 pounds of marijuana worth more than $39,000. Agents arrested the three occupants; each to be processed in accordance with agency guidelines.
Federal law allows the Border Patrol to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.