Border agents arrest illegal-crossing suspects in Vermont
Thursday, March 4, 2010

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A U.S. Border Patrol agents made three arrests Sunday in connection with a foiled attempt to smuggle two Brazilian nationals into Vermont.


A statement released Wednesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection said agents near Swanton intercepted the two after receiving a tip from officers at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing.

One of the Brazilians was charged with alien smuggling; the other was detained as a material witness. Both, according to authorities, had collaborated with a married couple (who were legal U.S. residents), Marcelo and Tatiane Pimentel, who had been interviewed and searched at the Champlain crossing.

Discrepancies in the Pimentels' statements and an "excessive" amount of baggage in their two cars led to agents' discovery of two Brazilian passports that belonged to neither individual, authorities said. Marcelo Pimentel, 33, a Brazilian with U.S. permanent resident status, and Tatiane Pimentel, 33, a U.S. citizen, were arrested on allegations of alien smuggling.

Border officials subsequently matched the Brazilian passports to the individuals who were nabbed crossing into Vermont.


All the individuals were being detained pending prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.


http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/arti ... 40312/1007