Posted: Monday, January 25, 2016 9:31 am
Staff Reports

U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona have had a busy year so far, seizing more than $3 million in drugs and arresting at least 40 individuals for separate smuggling activities in the first three weeks of January.

But not all the activity was the result of criminal and drug apprehensions.

On Jan. 18 Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents received a frantic cellphone call from a distressed Mexican man in the Sonoran Desert asking for help.

Assisted by pilots from Air and Marine Operations, Yuma Air Branch, agents located and rescued the man the following evening. He was treated for minor dehydration and did not want hospital care.

Here is a summary of some of the more recent incidents from the various Border Patrol sectors and crossings:

-- LUKEVILLE — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations officers arrested a male U.S. citizen returning from Mexico Saturday after learning he has an outstanding warrant for homicide out of Collin County, Texas.

The man failed to present proper identification at the port of entry, claiming he had been living in Mexico for five years and his documents were stolen. Officers referred the man for secondary inspection to confirm his identity and citizenship.

A background and fingerprint check revealed the man’s identity as 36-year-old David Ruiz, wanted in Texas for homicide. Officers arrested Ruiz and turned him over to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office for extradition.

“Fugitives can only run so long before vigilance and law-enforcement technology catches up to them,” said port of Lukeville Chief of Staff Garret Reinhart. “CBP officers work closely with local, state and other federal law enforcement partners to ensure wanted fugitives face justice. Thanks to our frontline officers, this fugitive will answer to the Texas legal system.”

-- YUMA — Border Patrol agents, assisted by aviation crews from Air and Marine Operations, Yuma Air Branch, arrested 18 people and seized more than 430 pounds of marijuana during multiple incidents.

AMO pilots assisted Border Patrol agents near Tacna by guiding them to the location of four Mexican nationals and a Honduran national after the group illegally entered the United States Jan. 15 with 246 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $123,000.

AMO pilots again assisted agents in Tacna on Jan. 16, directing them to the location of six Mexican nationals illegally in the U.S. It was later confirmed that one of the six had an active, extraditable warrant out of Santa Barbara, California, for a probation violation on a felony DUI with a prior conviction.

- GILA BEND — On Jan. 17, Border Patrol agents arrested seven Mexican nationals near Gila Bend. The group illegally entered the U.S. transporting 186 pounds of marijuana, valued at $93,000. Two of the arrested immigrants were previously deported and have histories of manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance; assault; injuring a child with intent; theft; rape; lewd and lascivious acts with a child; and carrying a concealed weapon.

-- SAN LUIS — Customs and Border Protection officers arrested four individuals for alleged separate attempts to smuggle heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine during the holiday weekend.

Officers referred Adrian Ochoa, 30, of El Golfo Santa Clara, Baja California, Mexico, for further inspection of his Mercedes sedan on Jan. 15. After a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs within the vehicle’s intake manifold, officers found more than 7 pounds of cocaine, worth nearly $75,000, and nearly 6 pounds of heroin valued at almost $82,000.

On Jan. 16, officers referred Wendy Marisol Flores-Cortes, 20, of San Luis, Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, for additional inspection of her Volkswagen sedan. A narcotics-canine’s alert helped officers locate almost 34 pounds of meth worth nearly $101,000.

Officers referred Karely Garcia-Alvarez, 26, of Phoenix for a secondary inspection of her Mini Cooper on Jan. 17 and found nearly 52 pounds of meth, worth more than $155,000.

Earlier that morning, officers referred Erik Beltran, 34, of San Luis, Arizona, for a closer inspection of his Nissan sedan and located nearly 47 pounds of cocaine, worth close to $489,000.

-- YUMA — On Jan. 19, a canine team alerted to a vehicle driven by a 28-year-old U.S. citizen at the Blythe station immigration checkpoint on State Route 95. When agents searched the vehicle, they found 32 pounds of methamphetamine.

Later that day, agents conducted a secondary inspection of a commercial shuttle van as it attempted to pass through the Wellton station immigration checkpoint on Interstate 8. During their inspection, agents found and seized 7 pounds of heroin from a 50-year-old Mexican woman travelling to Phoenix.

The drugs were worth more than $281,000, authorities said.

-- DOUGLAS — Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of Douglas arrested a Phoenix man and a Mexican national during the Martin Luther King holiday weekend for separate alleged attempts to smuggle more than 270 pounds of marijuana worth a combined $135,000. CBP officers at the port of Douglas discovered and seized nearly 60 pounds of marijuana from the gas tank of a smuggling vehicle.

Officers arrested Mark Anthony Torrez, 25, on Jan. 16 after an inspection of his Ford SUV led to the discovery of more than 58 pounds of marijuana, valued in excess of $29,000, in the vehicle’s gas tank. Drug smugglers attempted to hide more than 200 pounds of marijuana throughout a vehicle presented for inspection at the port of Douglas.

The following day, officers arrested Alvaro Ivan Fierro-Sanchez, 33, of Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, after an inspection of his Jeep SUV led to the discovery of more than 212 pounds of marijuana worth just more than $106,000.

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