TX - Man chartered plane to bypass Border Patrol checkpoint

BY CBS 4 NEWS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4TH 2016

U.S. Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped a charter flight from leaving the McAllen airport Thursday after receiving a report about suspicious activity.

A tipster contacted the Department of Public Safety to report suspicious activity at McCreery Aviation, according to a federal criminal complaint. The tipster said an agitated man arrived at McCreery Aviation and apparently wanted to charter a flight for illegal activity.

The Department of Public Safety contacted Border Patrol and sent a trooper to investigate.

After arriving at McCreery Aviation, the trooper observed Martin Zavala-Flores solicit money from three people while paying at the counter.

The trooper conducted a ramp check on the chartered aircraft and determined the three people traveling with Zavala-Flores had fraudulent identification cards.

"The three subjects that presented Fraudulent Texas ID cards were all found to be in the United States illegally," according to the criminal complaint.

One of the three people, a Mexican citizen named Maximina Jimenez-Mendoza, said she paid $1,000 for transportation to Houston.

An agent charged Zavala-Flores with transporting illegal aliens.

Zavala-Flores remains in federal custody. His attorney couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

http://valleycentral.com/news/local/...rol-checkpoint