LORDSBURG, NM – On March 6, 2018, Border Patrol Agents from Lordsburg assigned to a Forward Operations Base (FOB) near Antelope Wells seized 115 pounds of marijuana and arrested two illegal immigrant smugglers.
Early Tuesday, Agents utilizing night vision technology observed three subjects pushing bikes and carrying large bundles on their backs. The observation took place approximately three miles north of the border.
Agents deployed to the area were able to locate two of the subjects and place them under arrest. A third subject absconded by running south. A search of the immediate brushy area revealed three burlap backpacks and three bicycles. The subjects were later identified as 39-year-old Eliseo Chavez Mendez and 37-year-old Carlos Gutierrez. They, along with the bicycles and the bundles, were transported to the Lordsburg Border Patrol Station for processing.
Biometric information obtained on the subjects revealed that both subjects are Mexican Nationals, and are in the United States illegally. The green-leafy substance in the burlap backpacks tested positive to the properties of marijuana, with a collective weight of 115 pounds.
Both subjects and the contraband will be turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration in Las Cruces N.M. for prosecution. In fiscal year 2017, Border Patrol Agents in the El Paso Sector seized more than 34,000 pounds of marijuana.
“You should know that regardless of the time or location of illicit activity along the southwest border, there is a strong likelihood that a U.S. Border Patrol Agent will be watching,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron A. Hull said.