Derby Line, VT - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a 22-year-old Vermont man for failure to appear in court. The individual, a U.S. citizen, has outstanding warrants in both Vermont and Connecticut.
On March 7, CBP officers encountered the man as he was returned to the Derby Line, VT, port of entry after he was refused entry into Canada. The officers conducted a series of checks on the individual, discovering that he had an outstanding warrant in Connecticut for failure to appear in court, and a variety of pending charges against him in Vermont.
CBP officers verified the outstanding warrant and turned the man over to the Vermont State Police and the Department of Corrections.
"CBP's primary mission is to ensure that all persons entering the United States do not pose a risk in any way to public safety. During the course of routine inspections along the border, we discover a wide range of violations such as people who are wanted by other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies." said area port director John Makolin. "The officers did an excellent job in apprehending this wanted individual."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's top priority is to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States. While welcoming all legitimate travelers and trade, CBP officers and agents enforce all applicable U.S. laws. CBP prevents narcotics, agricultural pests and smuggled goods from entering the country and also identifies and arrests those with outstanding criminal warrants.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, inspections at ports of entry in fiscal year 2009 resulted in seizures of nearly 1.5 million pounds of narcotics, more than $57.9 million in outbound currency seizures, encounters of more than 224,000 inadmissible aliens, and more than 1.5 million prohibited meat, plant materials or animal products.