Patrol puts kink in smugglers' plans
Patrol puts kink in smugglers' plans
BY JONATHAN ATHENS, SUN STAFF WRITER
Published on: November 14, 2005
Federal authorities on Monday charged three Mexican men with felony drug smuggling charges in connection with the second largest marijuana seizure made along the Yuma County-Mexico border this year.
Javier Ruelas, 23, David Marquez, 27, and Victor Nogales, 27, are each charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Yuma sector Border Patrol agents arrested the three men around 1 a.m. on Saturday south of Sentinel after a brief vehicle pursuit involving two stolen pickup trucks.
Border Patrol agents using spikes stopped one of the stolen pickup trucks near Interstate 8. The second stolen pickup truck, in the course of trying to cross back into Mexico, got stuck in a wash.
Agents found a combined total of 3,672 pounds of marijuana valued at $2.9 million in the vehicles.
Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Michael Gramley said two suspected drug smugglers who fled on foot eluded capture. Gramley said agents traced footprints north to I-8 and believe the two men were picked up by accomplices.
Ruelas, Marquez, and Nogales appeared in Arizona District Court on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Jay Irwin who ordered all three remain in temporary custody.
"All three defendants stated that they knew they were transporting marijuana and intended on being paid to do so," according to court records.
Each charge carries a 10 year mandatory minimum prison sentence, a $4 million fine or both.
The three have not yet entered pleas and are slated to appear in court on Wednesday for a detention hearing.
This seizure is the second largest marijuana seizure made in the Yuma sector this year.
Agents in late August seized 4,872 pounds of marijuana valued at nearly $4 million in two separate smuggling incidents.
Three Mexican men were charged with federal felony drug smuggling charges in those incidents. One of those men, Jose Quesada, 20, plead guilty to a lesser charge in mid-October and is in custody awaiting sentencing, according to court records.
Border Patrol agents arrested Quesada and his alleged accomplice, Jose Popoca, 20, on Aug. 22 after observing a pickup truck cross the desert from Mexico into the U.S. near Avenue 3E and County 25th Street. Agents saw two men run from the vehicle after it came to a stop and found 2,159 pounds of bundled marijuana in the pickup truck. Agents found both Quesada and Popoca about a half-mile away from the truck, according to court records and The Sun archives.
In a separate unrelated smuggling incident that same day, Border Patrol agents arrested Joel Gonzales, 23, another man and an adolescent after they observed a Jeep cross into the U.S. from Mexico near Avenue 5E and County 23rd Street, according to court records.
Agents stopped the Jeep using spikes and found 2,713 pounds of marijuana inside.
Federal authorities charged Gonzales with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance but did not charge the minor or the other man, nor did they give a reason why those two were not charged, according to The Sun archives. The two were deported back to Mexico, according to archives.
Federal prosecutors have made plea offers to both Gonzales and Popoca, according to court records.
Their cases are pending in federal court.
Gramley attributed the increase in marijuana seizures to the federal government’s build up here in an effort to gain control of the Arizona-Mexico border.
On Sunday, Border Patrol agents arrested two Mexican men who allegedly led authorities on a brief vehicle pursuit along County 14th Street that ended in a crash along Avenue G.
Rodolfo Perez, 23, and Hector Gomez, 19, are each charged with one count of possession to distribute a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Each charge carries a minimum five years in prison, a $2 million fine or both.
Agents found 230 pounds of marijuana valued at $184,000 in a Jeep after it crashed into a fence on the west side of Avenue G, according to court records. Agents found Perez and Gomez "hiding in the bushes approximately 500 yards" from the Jeep, records stated.
Both men, according to court records, gave agents conflicting statements as to how they became involved in the smuggling incident.
Gomez stated he and Perez were approached by an unknown man driving the Jeep and agreed to assist that man in exchange for payment and transportation to Yuma, records stated.
Perez told agents he and Gomez were recruited in Los Algodones, Baja Calif., on Saturday to "smuggle stuff into the United States," records stated.
The two appeared in Arizona District Court on Monday before Irwin who ordered they remain in temporary custody.
Both men are slated to appear on Wednesday for a detention hearing.
Jonathan Athens can be reached at
jathens@yumasun.com or 539-6857.
© Copyright 2005 YumaSun.com
BY JONATHAN ATHENS, SUN STAFF WRITER
Published on: November 14, 2005
Federal authorities on Monday charged three Mexican men with felony drug smuggling charges in connection with the second largest marijuana seizure made along the Yuma County-Mexico border this year.
Javier Ruelas, 23, David Marquez, 27, and Victor Nogales, 27, are each charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Yuma sector Border Patrol agents arrested the three men around 1 a.m. on Saturday south of Sentinel after a brief vehicle pursuit involving two stolen pickup trucks.
Border Patrol agents using spikes stopped one of the stolen pickup trucks near Interstate 8. The second stolen pickup truck, in the course of trying to cross back into Mexico, got stuck in a wash.
Agents found a combined total of 3,672 pounds of marijuana valued at $2.9 million in the vehicles.
Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Michael Gramley said two suspected drug smugglers who fled on foot eluded capture. Gramley said agents traced footprints north to I-8 and believe the two men were picked up by accomplices.
Ruelas, Marquez, and Nogales appeared in Arizona District Court on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Jay Irwin who ordered all three remain in temporary custody.
"All three defendants stated that they knew they were transporting marijuana and intended on being paid to do so," according to court records.
Each charge carries a 10 year mandatory minimum prison sentence, a $4 million fine or both.
The three have not yet entered pleas and are slated to appear in court on Wednesday for a detention hearing.
This seizure is the second largest marijuana seizure made in the Yuma sector this year.
Agents in late August seized 4,872 pounds of marijuana valued at nearly $4 million in two separate smuggling incidents.
Three Mexican men were charged with federal felony drug smuggling charges in those incidents. One of those men, Jose Quesada, 20, plead guilty to a lesser charge in mid-October and is in custody awaiting sentencing, according to court records.
Border Patrol agents arrested Quesada and his alleged accomplice, Jose Popoca, 20, on Aug. 22 after observing a pickup truck cross the desert from Mexico into the U.S. near Avenue 3E and County 25th Street. Agents saw two men run from the vehicle after it came to a stop and found 2,159 pounds of bundled marijuana in the pickup truck. Agents found both Quesada and Popoca about a half-mile away from the truck, according to court records and The Sun archives.
In a separate unrelated smuggling incident that same day, Border Patrol agents arrested Joel Gonzales, 23, another man and an adolescent after they observed a Jeep cross into the U.S. from Mexico near Avenue 5E and County 23rd Street, according to court records.
Agents stopped the Jeep using spikes and found 2,713 pounds of marijuana inside.
Federal authorities charged Gonzales with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance but did not charge the minor or the other man, nor did they give a reason why those two were not charged, according to The Sun archives. The two were deported back to Mexico, according to archives.
Federal prosecutors have made plea offers to both Gonzales and Popoca, according to court records.
Their cases are pending in federal court.
Gramley attributed the increase in marijuana seizures to the federal government’s build up here in an effort to gain control of the Arizona-Mexico border.
On Sunday, Border Patrol agents arrested two Mexican men who allegedly led authorities on a brief vehicle pursuit along County 14th Street that ended in a crash along Avenue G.
Rodolfo Perez, 23, and Hector Gomez, 19, are each charged with one count of possession to distribute a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Each charge carries a minimum five years in prison, a $2 million fine or both.
Agents found 230 pounds of marijuana valued at $184,000 in a Jeep after it crashed into a fence on the west side of Avenue G, according to court records. Agents found Perez and Gomez "hiding in the bushes approximately 500 yards" from the Jeep, records stated.
Both men, according to court records, gave agents conflicting statements as to how they became involved in the smuggling incident.
Gomez stated he and Perez were approached by an unknown man driving the Jeep and agreed to assist that man in exchange for payment and transportation to Yuma, records stated.
Perez told agents he and Gomez were recruited in Los Algodones, Baja Calif., on Saturday to "smuggle stuff into the United States," records stated.
The two appeared in Arizona District Court on Monday before Irwin who ordered they remain in temporary custody.
Both men are slated to appear on Wednesday for a detention hearing.
Jonathan Athens can be reached at
jathens@yumasun.com or 539-6857.
© Copyright 2005 YumaSun.com
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