Border Patrol Agents from Las Cruces and Lordsburg had a very busy weekend, taking 329 pounds of marijuana off the streets and nabbing a previously deported convicted felon.
On Sunday, Agents working in Lordsburg noticed a vehicle driving in an area often used by alien and drug smugglers. Agents were suspicious, so they performed records checks on the license plates of the small pickup. The registration on the vehicle returned on a Hyundai Santa Fe, not the Nissan pickup they were following.
As agents followed the pickup, the vehicle began to swerve erratically into the other lane. Agents then stopped the driver and, after questioning, burlap-covered bundles were discovered behind the seats.
According to the agents, the juvenile driver stated he was an American Citizen, while the passenger admitted to being a Mexican citizen illegally present in the United States. Both were placed under arrest and transported to the Lordsburg Station along with the marijuana and vehicle.
The passenger was identified as 38-year old Gilberto Jimenez-Garcia from Mexico, while the juvenile’s identity is being withheld due to age. The marijuana and the subjects were transferred over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), pending prosecution.
The square, burlap wrapped bundles contained nearly 210 pounds of marijuana, valued at approximately $167,600.
On Saturday night, Agents working at the I-10 Checkpoint outside of Las Cruces were performing a routine immigration inspection on a passenger bus when they encountered 51 year-old Cirilo Gomez Delgado, from Mexico.
Gomez presented his Mexican driver’s license and freely admitted to being in the country without any immigration documents. After further processing, it was discovered that Gomez had an extensive criminal history, and had previously been deported.
Agents say Gomez’s history included DUI, Possession of Controlled Substances, Amphetamine Possession and Manufacturing and Aggravated Assault.
His deportation was reinstated, and he was transferred to Otero County Prison where he awaits prosecution.
“Border Patrol Agents assigned to work at highway traffic checkpoints and other patrol areas in southern New Mexico act as a secondary line of defense in our borderland,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey D. Self said.
