All ramped up, no place to go
Border Patrol catches suspected drug smuggler stuck on vehicle barrier near San Miguel




By Joe Meahl, Staff Writer June 04, 2009



Email to a friend Voice your opinion


U.S. Border Patrol, Agents from the U.S. Border Patrol station in Casa Grande were patrolling near San Miguel on the Tohono O’odham Nation on Monday when they discovered this pickup truck trapped atop a vehicle barrier, said Michael Scioli.

A suspected drug smuggler is reported to have brought ramps to cross a steel vehicle barrier near the U.S. border but failed, and a large amount of marijuana later was found in a hidden compartment in his pickup truck.

Agents from the U.S. Border Patrol station in Casa Grande were patrolling the border near San Miguel on the Tohono O'odham Nation on Monday when they discovered the pickup trapped on top of the vehicle barrier, according to Michael Scioli, a public relations officer.
The truck apparently got stuck when a smuggler, who attempted to use homemade ramps to drive over the barrier, ran off its tracks and his front wheels became wedged between each ramp's rails.

The vehicle barriers have been in place for about a year and no other attempts with homemade ramps are known, Scioli said.


A Border Patrol K-9 team arrived and alerted agents to the presence of narcotics. Agents searched the pickup and found a concealed compartment underneath the bed of the truck.

Inside the compartment agents found 22 bundles of marijuana weighing about 314 pounds, with an estimated street value of $251,200. The vehicle, ramps and marijuana were seized.

Pedestrian and vehicle barriers have proven to be successful in consistently deterring and delaying attempted illegal cross-border incursions, Scioli said.

In a separate incident over the weekend, agents from the Casa Grande station seized 25 bundles of marijuana near Kaka Village. Agents discovered the marijuana hidden beneath brush.

The total weight of the marijuana was 512 pounds with an approximate street value of $409,600. All seized items and marijuana were to be transferred to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Also over the weekend, agents received a 911 call from three people dehydrated and lost in the desert. Agents later found two men and a woman.

The woman was found in an advanced stage of dehydration and had begun convulsing. Agents contacted a Lifeline Air Ambulance and the woman was transported to a hospital for further medical attention.

In the first seven months of 2009 the Tucson Sector has seized about 700,000 pounds of marijuana. This continues to be a record-breaking year for marijuana seizures for both the entire Border Patrol and Tucson Sector.



©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2009
Email to a friend Voice your opinion Top

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 8561&rfi=6