Yuma Border Patrol agents arrest smugglers and a sex offender and seize 1,343 pounds

Yuma Border Patrol agents arrest smugglers and a sex offender and seize 1,343 pounds of pot

February 18, 2014
Rachel Leingang
abc15.com

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YUMA, AZ - Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector had a busy holiday weekend -- they arrested multiple smugglers and a convicted sex offender and seized 1,343 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $671,500, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Agents near Gila Bend, Ariz., arrested six men carrying backpacks with a combined 525 pounds of weed and turned them over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents in the same area saw another group of men walking through the desert with marijuana, officials say. They arrested seven men with 12 backpacks of marijuana, totaling 570 pounds. Two of the men will be processed for removal from the U.S. for pre-existing medical conditions, while the other five will be turned over to the DEA, according to CBP officials.

In another incident, agents near the Barry M. Goldwater Range monitored a group of men who entered the country illegally and found six abandoned backpacks containing 248 pounds of weed, CBP says. Border Patrol tracked footprints and found seven men responsible for the abandoned backpacks.

Finally, Border Patrol agents near San Luis arrested a 35-year-old man who was convicted of aggravated assault on a child in San Juan, Texas, in a roundup of eight people who had entered the country illegally, according to CBP. The man had previously served six years of a 10-year sentence before being removed from the country. He is being presented here for prosecution, CBP says.

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