EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two U.S. citizens and a Mexican national face arraignment this week for allegedly transporting 24 migrants inside a “cloned” Border Patrol K-9 vehicle.
A Feb. 4 indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona alleges Uriel Perez, Jovani Sanchez and Keven Valdez Ramirez conspired to transport migrants from a breach in the border wall near Andrade, California, to a residence across the state line in Yuma, Arizona.
A white Ford F-150 pickup customized to match a local federal K-9 unit down to the license plate number was used to pick up migrants at the wall on Jan. 8 and may have been used on a previous smuggling run last Dec. 10, according to court documents. The driver of the truck allegedly used a dark green shirt and hat resembling a Border Patrol uniform.
“Using vehicles that appear to be Border Patrol (units) or construction crew (vehicles) are tactics commonly used by members of human smuggling organizations to conceal illegal activity when operating near the border wall,” the federal agency said in a federal complaint affidavit.
Border agents watching the border wall from the parking lot of a casino in Winterhaven, California, spotted the “cloned” K-9 vehicle approach and leave the border wall. Agents examined the area of the breach and found the footprints of up to 30 people leading away from the wall.
Agents with the Border Patrol Anti-Smuggling Unit followed the fake K-9 vehicle to the garage of a home on West 16th Place in Yuma. A blue Ford Explorer driven by a man later identified as Jovani Sanchez arrived to pick up alleged smuggling vehicle driver Uriel Perez, according to court documents.
The Explorer stopped at a nearby residence and that’s where agents with the Anti-Smuggling Unit arrested them. Court documents describe a chaotic scene following the arrests.
Agents observed several individuals fleeing the home on West 16th Place and trying to go into neighboring properties as agents approached and detained them. Another 15 individuals were in the patio of the home and agents could hear screaming inside. It was a female – with a small child near her – requesting help and stating she was hurt and could not get up from the floor.
The Border Patrol requested medical assistance and conducted a sweep of the home, finding additional people. At the end of the day, agents had in their custody 24 people found to be illegally present in the United States.
Court documents state the agents requested a search warrant and later found clothing resembling Border Patrol uniforms inside.
One of the detainees was a Mexican national named Keven Valdez Ramirez. He allegedly told agents he entered the U.S. legally with a visitor’s visa but was going to pay $13,000 to smugglers to get him past highway immigration checkpoints on the way to Los Angeles.
Valdez stated the smugglers offered to knock off $800 to $1,000 off his fee if he took care of the other migrants at the house. Court documents allege he took photos of those who would come in and share them with the smugglers.
Perez denied involvement in smuggling and said he was on his way to a fast-food restaurant when arrested. Sanchez initially told a similar story, but changed his tune when agents confronted him with inconsistencies, according to the complaint affidavit.
Sanchez allegedly told agents he worked as a scout for the smugglers and was tasked with picking up Perez, whom he identified as the “load” driver.
The men face arraignment in federal court in Arizona on Wednesday. Perez has a hearing on Feb. 19.
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