10 Migrants Found in Fake Border Patrol Vehicle in Arizona

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents found 10 migrants being smuggled in a fake Border Patrol SUV. The driver also wore a cloned uniform.

Agents assigned to the Tucson Station made an unusual arrest this week when they foiled a human smuggling attempt featuring a fake Border Patrol vehicle, Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin tweeted.

The driver of what appeared to be a Border Patrol SUV wore a uniform to appear as a federal agent, the chief stated. Inside, agents found 10 migrants plus the driver.

Agents took all 11 people into custody.

In December 2015, Laredo Sector agents apprehended a human smuggler using a fake Border Patrol SUV to move 12 migrants into the U.S., Breitbart Texas reported.

The incident happened on Interstate 35 at mile marker 65 near the town of Cotulla, nearly 70 miles into Texas. A Border Patrol agent became suspicious of the cloned vehicle while he was following it, Border Patrol Agent Hector Garza told Breitbart Texas while acting in his capacity as president of the National Border Patrol Council, Local 2455. After stopping the suspicious vehicle, the driver was arrested and the agent found 12 migrants stuffed inside the Chevy Tahoe painted with Border Patrol markings.

In August 2018, human smugglers again attempted to use a fake vehicle to move their human cargo. This time, the smugglers attempted to get through the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint utilizing a fake EMS unit.