$5.5 million marijuana shipment seized in NM

LAS CRUCES — For the second time in two months, Border Patrol agents working in the state’s southwest corner seized a multi-ton load of marijuana packed into a convoy of northbound vehicles.

In the latest seizure, Border Patrol agents assigned to the Lordsburg station on Saturday intercepted 6,940 pounds of marijuana stuffed into four vehicles and arrested four men. A fifth vehicle was able to turn around and escape south back into Mexico, according to the Border Patrol.

The value of the nearly 3.5-ton load of marijuana, captured about 16 miles south of Animas, was estimated at $5.5 million.

On Jan. 21, Border Patrol agents based in Lordsburg confiscated 13,700 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $10.9 million. In that case, a caravan of five vehicles speeding at night with their lights off was also intercepted on County Road 1 by the Border Patrol.

“There’s always been activity over there in the smuggling of drugs and people,” said Doug Mosier, spokesman for the Border Patrol’s El Paso sector, which includes the entire state of New Mexico and two West Texas counties. “It’s a lively corridor for smuggling activity.”

Border Patrol agents working south of Animas late Saturday night spotted a caravan of five vehicles, all with their headlights turned off, heading north from the Mexican border on County Road 1.

After the speeding vehicles attempted to evade the Border Patrol, agents deployed spike strips on the road to slow down the trucks and managed to disable four of the five, according to the Border Patrol.

The occupants of the disabled vehicles fled, but Border Patrol agents were able to track down and arrest four suspected smugglers. The suspects, who remained in federal custody Monday, were identified as Ricardo Garcia Delgado, 32; Antonio Alvarez Toscano, 33; Jesus Escalante Delgado, 21; and Jose Jasso Topete, 34.

At least two of the four disabled vehicles had been reported stolen.

Mosier said agents are trying to determine how and where the Saturday caravan crossed the Mexican border, which is lined with Normandy-style barriers in the bootheel.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal