Border Patrol prevents separate human smuggling attempts

Yuma Sector Border Patrol Special Operations Detachment agents arrested three United States citizens and nine Mexican nationals in two separate events Monday and Tuesday.

The first event happened Monday at approximately 6:30 p.m. west of the Buttercup Sand Dunes in Imperial County, Calif.

Five people illegally crossed the International Boundary and loaded into a vehicle driven by a 33-year-old male American citizen. Agents stopped the vehicle and arrested all six individuals. The driver was charged with human smuggling. The five Mexican nationals, ranging in age from 16 to 27, were charged with illegal entry into the United States.

At around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, four people illegally crossed the International Boundary again just west of the Buttercup Sand Dunes in Imperial County, Calif. The subjects entered a vehicle with a United States citizen driver and passenger. Agents arrested the driver and passenger for human smuggling and the four Mexican nationals for illegal entry into the United States.

All subjects and vehicles were processed based on Yuma Sector guidelines.