Agents of the U.S. Border Patrol continue to discover child predators and other dangerous criminals crossing the border. This week, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector alone, three convicted child predators, an alleged rapist, and two gang members were arrested. Another man was arrested with nearly $2 million worth of methamphetamine.
“Border Patrol agents remain vigilant in their efforts to protect this nation from all threats, including predators and convicted criminals attempting to illegally enter the country,” said Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla Jr., in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas.
In what the Border Patrol listed as “significant arrests,” agents arrested two Mexican nationals and a Guatemalan national crossing the border who had previously been deported for criminal sexual acts against children. Those crimes include lewd or lascivious acts with a child, four counts of sexual assault of a child, and child rape.
Another alleged rapist was arrested near La Grulla, Texas. The Mexican national had previously been arrested and charged with rape in the first degree.
A Salvadorian man and another Mexican national were captured near Hidalgo, Texas. The Salvadoran man admitted to agents he was a member of the dangerous Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. The Mexican man confessed to being a member of the 18th Street gang.
All of these men were processed by Border Patrol agents and turned over to the Rio Grande Valley Sector’s Office of Prosecution, the statement revealed.
All of these arrests occurred during a four day period this week, agents confirmed.
“Thanks to the hard work of Border Patrol agents, these dangerous criminals were unable to make it into our communities,” Chief Padilla concluded.
Officers of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) arrested an 18-year-old Mexican male who was discovered transporting $2 million worth of methamphetamine in horse shampoo bottles. The Mexican national was from the border community of Reynosa, Tamaulipas where an on-going civil war has been raging between members of the Gulf Cartel.
The suspect was attempting to cross the bridge from Reynosa into Texas in a taxi cab. When CBP officers noticed the three boxes of horse shampoo bottles they directed him to a secondary inspection point. At that time, they discovered 98.6 pounds of methamphetamine valued at $1,980,000.
“Finding hard narcotics hidden in shampoo bottles may seem strange but it is not unique,” said Port Director Efrain Solis Jr., Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “Encountering drugs hidden this way illustrates both the creativity and desperation of the drug smuggling organizations and the skill of CBP Field Operations in shutting down these attempts.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.