Thread: 19 Mexican nationals arrested in East County near the border after 3 vehicles drive i

19 Mexican nationals arrested in East County near the border after 3 vehicles drive in from Mexico


Karen Kucher 17 hrs ago

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19 Mexican nationals arrested in East County near the border after 3 vehicles drive in from Mexico

Nineteen people were arrested early Sunday morning when Border Patrol agents came upon three SUVs early Sunday carrying dozens of people in the Jacumba area of East County who had been smuggled over the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.


© (U.S. Border Patrol ) Border Patrol agents arrested 19 people in East County early Sunday after one of three SUVs they spotted got stuck in a rocky area. (U.S. Border Patrol )







Border Patrol agents spotted the three vehicles around 6:30 a.m. traveling north on an off-road scenic route known as Carrie's Road located in the Jacumba Wilderness area, officials said.

The area is a 31,300-acre preserve managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is described by federal officials as looking like "a fantastic jumble of granite rock pushed up by faults in long-gone days."

Agents suspected the vehicles were not typical off-roaders because the road they were traveling on originates at the U.S.-Mexico border in an area without infrastructure and where there is no border wall, said Border Patrol spokesman Justin Castrejon.

"So the border in this area is very rocky," Castrejon said. "There's no fence, there is no wall. It is just mountainous."

Suspecting the vehicles had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico, agents approached the vehicles to investigate — and the vehicles quickly turned around and took off.

As the SUVs headed south, the GMC Yukon became stuck and the driver jumped out and fled on foot. An agent arrived shortly after and found 17 people inside.

Agents searched the area and found two additional people hiding in nearby brush, but were unable to locate the driver.

The remaining two vehicles continued south along the trail and stopped as they got close to the international boundary, Officials said 48 people jumped out of the two remaining SUVs and ran into Mexico. All three SUVs were eventually towed off public lands.

The 19 arrested included six women and 13 men, all whom are Mexican nationals.

A 44-year-old man in the group will be held pending further criminal charges for re-entry after removal, while the rest have been expelled to Mexico, Castrejon said.

“Events like these can be seen in areas where no border infrastructure is present,” Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said in a statement. “We are thankful no one was hurt during this failed human smuggling plot.”

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/19...?ocid=msedgdhp