EL CENTRO: El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported sex offender and a man suspected of narcotics smuggling on Saturday in two separate events.
The first arrest occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m., when agents observed a man walking north from the International Border fence. Upon making contact with the man, agents determined that he was illegally present in the United States. The man was placed under arrest and transported to the El Centro station for further processing.
Border Patrol agents conducted records checks which revealed the man, a 42-year-old Mexican national, was convicted of a sexual offense with a minor in Calif. and sentenced to four years in prison. The man was previously removed from the United States on Nov 4, 1998.
The man will be criminally prosecuted for Re-Entry after Removal as a convicted sex offender and is being held at the Imperial County Jail.
The second arrest occurred, at approximately 2:45 p.m., when a 25-year-old man approached the Highway 86 checkpoint driving a silver 2007 Mazda CX-7.
A Border Patrol detection canine alerted to the vehicle. Agents referred the man to the secondary inspection area for a closer examination. After an intensive search, agents discovered 25 vacuum sealed bundles of methamphetamine and one bundle of heroin hidden in the vehicle’s rocker panels.
The methamphetamine had a combined weight of 27.41 pounds with an estimated street value of $109,600. The heroin had a combined weight of 1.19 pounds with an estimated street value of $23,700.
The man, a United States citizen, the vehicle, and narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.
From Oct. 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016, El Centro Sector had 11,989 apprehensions, and seized more than 1,015 pounds of methamphetamine, and more than 226 ounces of heroin.
