EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Border Patrol agents working the checkpoint outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico, broke up an alleged migrant smuggling scheme last week, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said.
At about 9:20 a.m. on April 2, an adult male U.S. citizen drove up to the checkpoint on U.S. Highway 70 outside of Alamogordo. A Border Patrol K9 alerted to the vehicle, which sent it to secondary inspection.
There, the man allegedly admitted to smoking marijuana in the vehicle, the CBP spokesman said.
He also claimed that his passenger, an adult female, was also a U.S. citizen. It was determined that she is from Guatemala and was in the country illegally, the CBP spokesman said.
A search of the truck found a .45 pistol, six magazines, ammunition and nine pre-rolled THC cigarettes, the spokesman said.
The man is being charged with conspiracy to harbor or smuggle migrants who are attempting to enter the country illegally. The case was accepted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico, the spokesman said.
The woman was sent to El Paso for processing.
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