YUMA, Ariz. – Border Patrol agents assigned to the Yuma Sector Border Patrol Special Operations Detachment and the Yuma Sector Integrated Targeting Team intercepted a human smuggling attempt in which the driver was a previously convicted sex offender Monday evening.
At approximately 9:30 p.m. on Monday, four Mexican nationals illegally crossed the United States and Mexico International Boundary just west of Yuma. The four subjects loaded up into a blue 1996 Ford Explorer in the westbound lanes on Interstate-8. Agents performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and arrested all five subjects.
During processing, agents identified the driver as a 31-year-old male United States citizen from Thermal, California. He has numerous criminal convictions out of Riverside County, California to include taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, possession of a controlled substance, battery on a spouse, as well as lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14.
The subject will be charged with bringing in and harboring certain aliens.
Yuma Sector’s Special Operations Detachment is comprised of certified special operations agents from the Special Operations Group; the Border Patrol Search Trauma & Rescue Unit (BORSTAR); and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC). Agents assigned to this unit undergo a difficult training regimen before being certified SOD agents.
Integrated Targeting Teams were established in Yuma Sector to enhance U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Counter Network Approach. They perform synchronized targeting of high-risk transnational and illicit criminal organizations.