Smugglers Posing as Border Wall Construction Crew Arrested After Border Patrol Shootout
Richard Moorhead
|
A group of at least two human smugglers who were disguising themselves as member of a border wall construction crew engaged in a shootout with Customs and Border Patrol in Arizona last week. One of the smugglers was arrested, and another escaped back into Mexico.
No one was harmed in the incident, but federal authorities arrested 19 illegal immigrants who were hiding in the trucks the men were using.
The Wednesday incident began when Border Patrol agents identified two older F-250 trucks labeled with “SWC Southwest Valley Constructors,” a company currently engaging in border wall construction in the Tucson area. The company is legitimate, but CBP officers were suspicious that the trucks appeared far older than those typically used by the company.
Border Patrol tailed one truck to Douglas, Arizona, and was stopped when a CBP agent blocked the road in front of the truck with his vehicle. The driver and fifteen illegals hiding inside were apprehended.
The other truck was pursued in a high-speed chase near the border, colliding with a CBP vehicle at one point. When it eventually stopped, shots were fired between the truck’s driver and law enforcement. The driver escaped the scene and crossed back into Mexico, and four illegals hiding on board the F250 were arrested.
Customs and Border Patrol representative Rob Daniels described the incident in a statement released to the Washington Times.
“A Border Patrol Agent from the Tucson Sector was involved in a failure to yield incident and agent involved shooting near Douglas, Arizona. No injuries were reported at the time of the incident. An investigation is underway.”
A man named Gerardo Siqueiros-Molina has been charged as the driver of the F250 stopped in Douglas. He’s claiming that he agreed to drive the truck for the criminal smugglers as a credit towards his smuggling fee.
Traffic on the U.S-Mexico border has ground to an all-time low in the midst of the global coronavirus epidemic, but judging from the busted human smuggling operation, nefarious criminal elements that facilitate illegal immigration haven’t stopped attempting to infiltrate America’s borders.
Share: