Thread: Man detained by Tijuana police claims to be U.S. agent

Man detained by Tijuana police claims to be U.S. agent

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

4:56 p.m. March 20, 2007

When Tijuana police detained a man Tuesday on a speeding charge, he flashed a badge and claimed to be an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S agents work in the area, but they aren't supposed to be armed. Inside the man's car, police found more than a dozen long knives and martial arts-style daggers, a pistol and cartridges, a ski mask, handcuffs and other weapons.

Mexican authorities contacted their U.S. counterparts, who don't believe the man – Eric Yahir Bouchot Godinez, 29 – is an agent.
Tijuana Police Chief Victor Manuel Zatarain, said Bouchot tried to explain some of the items in his possession.

“He said he liked swords and that he had the ski mask because he used it when he's on his motorcycle,” Zatarain said.

Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the U.S. agency is investigating the case. The badge “appears to have been reported as missing by an ICE agent,” she said.

Bouchot is a legal U.S. resident who had a San Diego address, Mack said, but he's also a Mexican national.

It's not uncommon for criminals to pose as Mexican police when they commit crimes here, but posing as a U.S. agent is unusual.

Bouchot, who was detained around 6 a.m., was turned over to Mexican federal authorities to face possible charges of firearms possession.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... rrest.html

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