Border Patrol reports two significant incidents
In two separate incidents Thursday, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a man convicted of a sexual offense and later caught a woman allegedly trying to smuggle meth, a Customs and Border Protection news release stated.
The first incident occurred about 2:35 a.m., when remote video surveillance system operators observed and notified agents of a man suspected of illegally entering the United States approximately three miles east of the Calexico west port of entry.
Agents arrested the man and conducted an immigration and criminal history screening in the field before transporting him to the El Centro station.
Records checks revealed the man, a 39-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, had a conviction on Oct. 18, 2018, for lewd or lascivious acts with a child in San Ysidro.
The man was sentenced to 364 days of confinement and three years of probation for his conviction. The man also had an outstanding warrant with no bail in Orange County for a sex offense.
The man is being held in federal custody pending further criminal prosecution, the news release stated.
The second incident occurred around 2:47 p.m., when a 26-year-old woman traveling in a white Dodge Charger with her two infant children approached the Highway 86 checkpoint in Salton City.
After a K-9 detection team alerted to the vehicle in the primary inspection lane, agents directed the vehicle to the secondary inspection area for further investigation.
There, agents discovered 104 packages inside the trunk and the door panels of the vehicle.
Agents determined the packages contained a substance that was consistent with the characteristics of methamphetamine.
The total weight of the meth was 114.4 pounds, with an estimated value of $217,360.
The woman, who is a U.S. citizen, the meth and the vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The children were turned over to Child Protective Services, the news release stated.