Border Patrol encountering "clone vehicles"

by Sydney Hernandez, CBS 4 News
Monday, January 28th 2019

Every day, Border Patrol agents encounter illegal activity, but not every day do they encounter clone vehicles.

"There's been various reports of smugglers using government vehicles, whether it be stolen plates or actual Border Patrol vehicles," said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Dustin Araujo.


Clone cars, as they're frequently known as, is just one of the many way smugglers illegally cross immigrants and/or drugs into the United States.


"The smugglers whole goal is to blend in with the traffic in the area, whether that be government vehicles, the traveling public, construction workers or even law enforcement officers," said Araujo.

In recent cases in the last year, agents are discovering trailers disguised as belong to a certain business, but in reality, they are smugglers covering the vehicles with patches and fake decals.


Commercial trucks are not the only disguise.


"Border Patrol agents near Falfurrias encountered an actual EMS ambulance vehicle that was being used to smuggle illegal aliens through the checkpoint," said Araujo.


In that case, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted agents to the ambulance and the driver sped off resulting in a high-speed chase.


Four people were arrested, three of them undocumented immigrants from Brazil.


"We encourage the public to assist us with these type of vehicles. If they see any decals that might not look right or misplaced or anything that doesn't fit with what they know to be correct, call Border Patrol. We'd be happy to look and check it out," said Araujo.


If you see any suspicious activity or clone cars, you're asked to call Border Patrol at 800-863-9382.


https://valleycentral.com/news/local...clone-vehicles