Border agents apprehended a 16-year-old boy who used a remote-controlled car to transport methamphetamine across the border.
Credit: @naijnews / Twitter
On Nov. 17, at about 12:30 a.m., agents noticed a person with two duffel bags. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that agents followed the individual and discovered that he was a teenager and was also in possession of meth and a remote-controlled car. But how much can a toy car carry anyway? It is tiny, after all.
Agents reportedly detained 50 packages of methamphetamine or about 55.84 pounds of meth that has an estimated street value of $106,096.
Credit: @kamrlocal4news / Twitter
It wasn’t that long ago that tunnels were discovered at the U.S.-Mexico border and were believed to be used for drug trafficking into the U.S. The arrest by CBP shows the extent and complexity of which drugs are getting across the U.S.-Mexico border. The teenager was able to fit the drug on the remote control car because he had altered the car by removing the top. The drugs fit on the undercarriage of the car to be transported in and out of the U.S. and Mexico on what looks more like a remote control skateboard.
It’s hard to think that this teenage boy was acting alone on either side of the border. His identity has not been revealed since he is underage.
Credit: @hmuller61 / Twitter
The teen was arrested in San Diego, so someone was clearly on one side bringing the meth to the toy car while the boy waited on the other side. But the report doesn’t specify if the kid was transporting the meth to Mexico or bringing meth into the U.S.
San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Douglas Harrison stated, “I am extremely proud of the agents’ heightened vigilance and hard work in stopping this unusual smuggling scheme.”
People on social media gave the kid props for using his clever skills of using a remote-controlled car.
Others chastised the kid for not thinking things through all the way. “Well, he got caught so he’s not that smart.” Others pointed out the inventive way this kid beat the so-called wall system that President Donald Trump wants to implement, “But isn’t the wall stopping all the drugs coming in!!”
This is not the first time border agents have detained people of transporting drugs through inventive means.
Credit: @GinaAHarkins / Twitter
In 2017, another San Diego male, this time a 25-year-old used a drone to transport several pounds of methamphetamine across the border. According to a press release by CBP Public Affairs, “An agent on an all-terrain vehicle spotted a male suspect at about 11:40 p.m. near the border at Servano Avenue and Valentino Street. The agent approached the man and discovered that he possessed a large open bag that had multiple plastic-wrapped packages containing methamphetamine. After the agent arrested the man, a search of the immediate area was conducted, leading to the discovery of a drone that was concealed under a bush. The drone was approximately two feet in height.”
In that drug bust, the amount the smuggler was caught with 13.44 pounds, which has an estimated street value of $46,000. So that’s only a fraction of what the teen boy had obtained.
While some may speculate this issue is proof that the United States needs a stronger border, people will find ways to transport drugs. Until both the U.S. and the Mexico governments address that their drug problem is everyone’s problem none of these issues will ever end.
Charges against Salvador Cinenfuegos Zepadas have been dropped by U.S. officials. The sudden change in direction by justice officials has drawn criticism and has exposed that precarious nature of U.S.-Mexico relations.
The announcement that the DEA is dropping charges against a recently arrested Mexican official is a big deal.
Is this the cover story? “Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York attributed the change of course to Mexican government threats to limit the role of the DEA in the country, according to a law enforcement official.” https://t.co/4K8KlWQoEN
According to Vice News, the Mexican government stepped into get the charges dropped against former Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos Zepadas. Vice News reports that the Mexican government threatened to expel the DEA from the country and limit all cooperation on narcotics investigations unless Cienfuegos Zepadas is released.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr released a joint statement with his Mexican counterpart, Alejandro Gertz Manero, downplaying that angle.
“In recognition of the strong law enforcement partnership between Mexico and the United States, and in the interests of demonstrating our united front against all forms of criminality, the United States Department of Justice has made the decision to seek dismissal of the U.S. criminal charges against former Secretary Cienfuegos, so that he may be investigated and, if appropriate, charged, under Mexican law,” AG Barr and Gertz Manero said in a news release.
Original: President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized the historic role of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Mexico after a former Mexican army chief was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles on drug charges at the request of the DEA.
The former Mexican Defense Minister was arrested by the DEA on drug charges.
Numerous reports former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador #Cienfuegos was arrested at the request of the DEA.
This will be an earth-shattering story in Mexico. AMLO's has repeatedly accused previous governments of corruption
Salvador Cienfuegos Zepedas was the secretary of National Defense in the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto from 2012 to 2018. President Lopez Obrador claims that the arrest is proof of corruption from past governments.
President Lopez Obrador used the arrest to criticize the U.S. government and the DEA.
President Lopez Obrador, speaking at a press conference in Oaxaca, claimed that there is a double standard. While Cienfuegos Zepedas has been arrested by the DEA, the president claims U.S. officials have not been held accountable for trafficking arms into Mexico to track them to the cartels. According to the president, Mexican officials are being held at a higher and harsher standard than U.S. officials.
“Why is it that it’s just the people in Mexico who took part in these acts being accused or implicated, and (the DEA) aren’t criticizing themselves, reflecting on the meddling by all these agencies in Mexico,” Lopez Obrador said at the press conference. “They came into the country with complete freedom, they did whatever they wanted.”
The former defense minister’s arrest sent shockwaves through Mexico.
Interesting how AMLO supporters claim the arrests of former Mexican security officials in the US are "achievements" of his government
Cienfuegos Zepedas was the first high-ranking Mexican military official to be arrested in the U.S. with drug-related corruption. He was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport and will be facing drug and money-laundering charges. It’s been less than a year since Genaro Garcia Luna was charged with taking bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
President Lopez Obrador wants to protect the military’s reputation.
The arrest of the former Mexican defense minister will stun the military and set off a huge scandal in Mexico where President Lopez Obrador has come to depend on the army for most everything https://t.co/t49mY9892N via @WSJ
Lopez Obrador also said he hopes that the armed forces aren’t blamed for this scandal and that Mexico must take care of institutions as important as the Secretary of National Defense. Mexico does not currently have an ongoing investigation of the retired general and will await the result of the U.S. investigation, according to the president of Mexico.
Cienfuegos Zepedas is due to make a court appearance related to four charges in California on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020.
Mexico is taking measures to protect its citizens from the rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. Parts of the Mexico-U.S. border was closed in Arizona by Mexican authorities in response to the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19.
It started when the state of Sonora toughened border restrictions as Arizona’s COVID-19 number skyrocketed.
Forget @realDonaldTrump’s Border Wall, #Mexico closes US border in Arizona to stop American visitors, citing #COVID19 fears. A good portion of Trump’s candidacy has been about keeping Mexicans out; now his #coronavirus mismanagement has us unwelcomed! https://t.co/uPMOWVa43C
Arizona is facing one of the toughest COVID-19 surges in the country. Numbers are spiking across the U.S. following the rapid, and in some states sudden, reopenings. Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona are all reporting numbers that have health experts concerned about the outlook of the U.S.’s ability to control the virus.
“We are all going to be on alert at this time to prevent them from coming, whether they are Mexicans living in the U.S., Americans or those who want to come to spend the weekend and put a greater burden on us regarding COVID,” Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich told the Arizona Daily Star.
Some Mexican citizens took it upon themselves to block Americans from entering their country.
Local residents in Northern Mexico blockade USA border to prevent tourists entering from virus-ravaged Arizona amid local tensions between resorts & towns with more conventional economic bases https://t.co/7CheV9kckJ Who's building the wall now?
Mexican residents along the Arizona border created makeshift blockades to keep Americans from flooding popular beach destinations. Mexican citizens used their cars and other objects to block Americans as the state governments backed their actions.
“We invite US tourists not to visit Mexico,” Sonoyta’s mayor, José Ramos Arzate, said in a statement. “We agreed on this to safeguard the health of our community in the face of an accelerated rate of Covid-19 contagion in the neighboring state of Arizona.”
Sonoyta is a U.S.-Mexico border town with roads that lead to Puerto Peñasco, a beach town on the Sea of Cortés. Mexicans are fighting to protect their own health as the U.S. continues to let the COVID-19 crisis get worse.
The United States has been setting daily records as COVID-19 infections continue to spread out of control. Health experts are warning that the U.S. is still in the first wave of the virus since the first wave never ended. The lack of containment has led to countries banning American tourists because the virus is still not under control.
There are things we can do to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Health experts suggest wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and being diligent about hygiene to slow the spread of the virus. Stay safe and stay healthy.
