Lost smuggling suspect asks Border Patrol for help
Posted: Jan 11, 2013 3:02 PM by Leasa Conze Updated: Jan 11, 2013 3:30 PM
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TUCSON - A suspected drug smuggler is under arrest, after asking directions from Sonoita Border Patrol agents, while allegedly hiding more than 600 pounds of marijuana in his truck.
The bust happened Thursday night.
Agents say the 21-year-old was hauling a load of lumber in the back of the pickup when he stopped to ask directions.
Based on the discussion, agents became suspicious that the driver might be involved in something illegal.
They brought in a canine unit and that's when they found 621 pounds of pot hidden in the stack of 2' by 4's covered with plywood.
The suspected smuggler is a U.S. citizen.
Meteor Crater, 35 miles east of Flagstaff off Interstate 40. The 570-foot-deep, mile-wide crater was formed 49,000 years ago by a meteorite weighing millions of tons.
By Kristen HwangThe Arizona Republic-12 New Breaking News TeamFri Jan 11, 2013 12:59 PM
Rescuers pulled a 28-year-old California man from a mine shaft in the bottom of Meteor Crater Friday morning after he was seen trespassing in the crater Thursday afternoon.
An employee at Meteor Crater was watching Parminder Singh with binoculars when Singh jumped into the mine shaft. The shaft is more than 100 feet deep, authorities said.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office responded to a phone call from the employee saying that a man was at the bottom of the crater. While tourists can walk around the edge of part of the crater, the crater itself is off-limits.
The resue operation lasted more than eight hours. More than 30 people worked in below-freezing temperatures to save the man.
Rescuers cut through a seven-foot tall fence topped with barbed wire to access the opening of the mine shaft.
Food, water, a radio, warm clothing and a flashlight were lowered to Singh. Singh radioed that he believed he had a broken arm and leg.
A member of the Flagstaff Fire Department Technical Rescue Team was lowered into the mine shaft to assess Singh and lift him out.
Helicopters were used Thursday night to insert rescuers into the crater, but windy conditions Friday morning prevented the responders from flying Singh out.
Rescuers carried Singh out of the crater on foot. The hike out consisted of a 600-foot incline and a mile-long walk to the visitor center parking lot. The hike took more than two hours.
Singh suffered from severe hypothermia, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He is at the Flagstaff Medical Center in stable condition.
In an interview with deputies, Singh said he jumped in to “appease the gods.”
Thumbs up all around as citizen police set up check points at all entrances and exits
Guerrero - Community police from Ayutla de los Libres expected that if the groups of organized criminals take revenge on the community, the community will do the same thing in return: "we know who they are, where they are, and we also know their families. It will be an eye for an eye."
In an new year interview that took place on the Ayutla de los Libres reserves, most community members covered their faces with handkerchiefs and balaclavas. Coordinators justify these actions by the complicated situation of living in a state of insecurity.
We did not see any effective action against organized crime and for this reason this movement has been create with the intention of liberating the people.We, the citizens and the families, decided that we had enough harassment because we were no longer able to walk in the streets.The night is dark, but the day is also.”
Robust and short in stature, the man who is recognized as one of the leaders of the movement indicated that the action that they have implemented is no longer only about vigilance, as it was in Olinala and Huamuxtitlan in 2011.We are going to locate people who are not satisfied with living in a normal society and we are going to kick them out. The villages are fed up and for this reason we decided to organize ourselves against those called ‘hit men’”, he comments.He indicated that as he has advised the Attorney General (PGJ) on Monday night, that they have detained three men who are accused of collaborating with organized crime: “They have a lot to do with this problem, because we found them with weapons and evidence that they were involved in kidnappings.That is why there are conditions to re-educate them.”With respect to the possibility of delivering the men to the Public Ministry of the Common Law (MPFC) as the authorities have suggested, he said that the agreement is that the people are going to defend by their own methods, but those detained will be subject to re-education in a house of justice under the Regional Coordinator of Community Authority (CRAC).
They still remained in Ayutla this Thursday but they anticipated that they will then be turned over to Tecoanapa and afterwards to other locations.
He added that their activities had already been reported to the Secretary of the Navy, the National Army and the State Administration, because the agreement is to maintain the fight against crime in an indefinite way.
And preventing reprisals on the part of the members of the organizations that they are confronting, another member of the leadership noted: “The people can do no more and are going to have to act maybe in an unlawful way, but it is clear that they are left with no alternative and that if necessary they will have to see an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”Against those who might doubt these men, he specified:“They (the criminals) also have family and that they will be hurt in the same manner that the criminals hurt people, so I hope that they do not do here what they have done in other places.”
Although it is calculated that 500 men have been mobilized, the leaders have indicated that there are at least 700 but that they are going to recruit more.
He said that with so many people have joining the mission he has been able to gather a large amount of information with respect to who is a part of the criminal cells:”
“We have names and addresses, everyone is located and we want to make it clear that if something happens with our families, the same will happen with their families, they may fight like men or better yet, retreat and live life in an honorable manner.”
It is assumed that the stance can be lamentable, but he says that in these moments the communities have no other alternative.
The court set a Jan, 13, 2014, trial date for the firefighter, George Tiaffay. Prosecutors say he devised the September murder plot and then crashed his pickup into a freeway barrier in a failed suicide attempt as police closed in.
The homeless man, Noel Stevens, said he killed Shauna Tiaffay by hitting her in the head 17 times with a hammer.
In this photo released by the
Alameda County Sheriffs... ((AP Photo/Alameda County Sheriffs))
SAN FRANCISCO—Authorities in
Northern California made a snappy discovery during a routine probation check: An
alligator-like reptile named "Mr. Teeth," who was apparently protecting a stash
of marijuana.
When Alameda County Sheriff's deputies entered the Castro Valley home on
Tuesday, they not only found 34 pounds of marijuana valued at an estimated
$100,000, but also the 5-foot-long caiman inside a Plexiglas tank guarding it in
a bedroom.
Caimans are usually found in the wetland regions of Central and South
America. They're considered close relatives of alligators.
"We get guard dogs all the time when we search for grow houses and people
stashing away all types of dope. But alligators? You just don't see that every
day," Sgt. J.D. Nelson said Thursday.
The reptile's owner, Assif Mayar, was arrested Tuesday and later charged with
one count of possessing marijuana for sale. Mayar, 32, did not enter a plea
during his arraignment in Alameda County Superior Court. He is being held in
jail on $20,000 bail and is due back in court on Jan. 15.
He could also face citations from the California Fish and Game Commission,
including possession of an exotic animal without a permit.
Mayar told deputies he got the creature to commemorate rapper Tupac Shakur's
1996 death.
"We have come across alligators before, but nobody can remember one this big
and situated in such close proximity to act sort of as a sentry to the
marijuana," Nelson said.
Customs and Border Protection
officers in El Paso seized more than $25,000 in cash from a woman trying to walk
into Mexico.
Customs officials said the cash was apparently hidden in a purse belonging to
Irma Ariana Varela Antillon, 29, of Juárez.
Officials said Varela was walking south on the Paso Del Norte bridge about 4
p.m. Wednesday when she was selected for inspection by customs personnel. An
agent with the U.S. Border Patrol began talking to Varela, then searched her
purse and found three bundles of unreported cash in the bag.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Varela for federal
prosecution. She is being held without bond at the El Paso County Jail.
"The unreported cash that we seize has an impact on the criminal
organizations by making it more difficult for them to further their illicit
activities," said Hector Mancha, the port director for Customs and Border
Protection in El Paso. "CBP officers and Border Patrol agents performing
southbound inspections at all area crossings are generating important
enforcement activity regularly."
Photos courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Luis Carlos Majalca, 24, was arrested Tuesday after agents say they found him walking across the border from Arizona carrying $22,500 in unreported U.S. currency hidden inside his jacket
2013-01-10T11:00:00ZCash, marijuana seized at Douglas border crossingArizona Daily StarArizona Daily Star
Two Mexican nationals were arrested this week in unrelated smuggling incidents at the Douglas border crossing.
Luis Carlos Majalca, 24, was arrested Tuesday after agents say they found him walking across the border from Arizona carrying $22,500 in unreported U.S. currency hidden inside his jacket.
Later in the day, officers referred Maria Josefina Sanchez-Hernandez, 46, for further inspection as she drove into Arizona. A narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs in her vehicle.
Officers say they found 190 packages of marijuana weighing about 300 pounds throughout the vehicle. The estimated value of the marijuana was $148,000.
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