BOWMANTOWN, Maine. – On the afternoon of Sept. 7, a U.S. Border Patrol agent from the Houlton Sector arrested a male from Lebanon, 44, and a male from the United States, 40, for illegally entering the United States south of the Notre Dame, Canada border crossing area.
At approximately 2:30 pm while on patrol, an agent from the Rangeley Station encountered two male subjects walking on a dirt road with mountain bikes in nexus to the border. Questioning by the agent revealed that the two suspects illegally entered the U.S. from Canada. Subsequently, both males were arrested for violation of U.S. law and transported to the Rangeley Station for further processing.
Following database verifications, Border Patrol agents turned over both subjects to CBP officers at the Coburn Gore port of entry for assessment of fines and penalties.
While interdictions are always handled on a case by case basis, in this particular incident, both men deliberately entered the U.S. without lawful inspection and as such, each subject was assessed a $5,000 civil penalty under 19 USC 1459 for Failure to Report. Since this is an administrative fine, the individuals do not have to go through a judicial process and will have approximately 30 days to pay the fine.
All property was returned to the subjects and the U.S. citizen was released on his own recognizance. The citizen of Canada (Lebanese national) was returned to Canada on an expedited removal via the Woburn, Quebec, port of entry.
CBP welcomes assistance from the community. The information and observations provided by members of our border community have proven to be valuable assets in securing the borders of this great nation. Help CBP keep our nation’s borders safe and report suspicious activity at 1-800-851-8727, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For more on CBP’s mission at our nation’s ports of entry with CBP officers and along U.S. borders with Border Patrol agents, please visit the Border Security section of the CBP website.