Guardsmen act as 'eyes and ears' for border patrol

By Adam Foxman
Posted January 6, 2012 at 8:01 p.m.

It was about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday when National Guardsmen first spotted the alleged smugglers' boat off the south Ventura County coast.

A panga — an open fishing boat often used to transport drugs or people from Mexico — was more than 9 miles from the Guardsmen's position, traveling at high speed with its lights off. The Guard spotters notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection and continued watching as the panga changed direction and headed toward a small beach near Deer Creek Road, where a set of stairs previously used by smugglers leads up to the Pacific Coast Highway, according to federal court documents.

The sighting led to 10 arrests before dawn Wednesday and the seizure of about 2,300 pounds of marijuana smuggled on the panga, officials said.

The National Guard's role stemmed from a four-state border security mission launched in 2010, officials said.

An order from President Barack Obama established Operation Phalanx, which authorized 1,200 National Guard soldiers and airmen to support U.S. border agents in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. California's contingent includes 260 National Guardsmen.

In Ventura County, some of the Guard are supporting a task force formed to combat ocean smuggling, officials said.

The National Guard members act as "eyes and ears" for Customs and Border Protection and report to that agency if they see something suspicious, said Staff Sgt. Jessica Inigo, a spokeswoman for the Guard.

Ventura County Guardsmen work primarily as "entry identification teams" — groups of two or three who watch the coastline from strategic locations designated by Customs and Border Protection, Inigo said. They use tools such as high-powered binoculars and thermal-imaging technology.

In other areas, some watch live video feeds of the border or work as crime analysts, Inigo said.

The local work under Operation Phalanx supports the Central California Maritime Agency Coordination Group, a multiagency, anti-smuggling task force also launched in 2010, officials said. The group of federal, state and local agencies was established to fight an increase in ocean smuggling in the region.

Authorities say smugglers have been pushing farther north for about 18 months now in response to increased security near the Mexican border.

Ocean smuggling incidents discovered by authorities in Southern California climbed sharply from 45 in the 2008 fiscal year, when border officials first began keeping statistics on it, to 123 two years later, said Michael Jimenez, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in San Diego.

Nine ocean-smuggling incidents have been discovered in Ventura County since October 2010, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The four men found on the panga Wednesday made their first appearance in federal court this week. They were identified as Aaron Bustamante-Robles, 25, Jesus Cardenas-Cesena, 38, Oscar Marin-Barbosa, 35, and Antonio Robles-Garcia, 42, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The four Mexican nationals were accused in a federal complaint of importing marijuana into the United States.

The six men who met the panga on shore, allegedly to unload it, were booked into Ventura County jail on suspicion of transporting marijuana and conspiracy, said sheriff's spokesman Capt. Mike Aranda. They were identified as John Cifuentes, 24, of San Diego; Juan Castillo, 26, of Long Beach; Eustolio Landin, 26, of Bellflower; Humberto Periera, 31, of San Diego; Danny Escapite, 20, of Bellflower, and Alberto Pinada, 51, of San Diego, Aranda said.

Created as a yearlong mission, Operation Phalanx has been extended twice. It is currently scheduled to end in February, Inigo said.

The effort followed President Bush's Operation Jump Start, which authorized the deployment of 6,000 National Guard members along the border with Mexico.

Several officials from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of the maritime task force, pointed to Wednesday's arrests and seizure as evidence that the anti-smuggling effort is working.

The American Civil Liberties Union, however, is concerned that using the National Guard for border security contributes to an unnecessary militarization of the nation's border with Mexico, said Cynthia Buiza, director of policy for the organization in San Diego.

The ACLU believes National Guard resources would be better used for disaster response, Buiza said, adding that her organization is concerned about possible unnecessary use of force and insufficient understanding of border laws by Guard members.

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