Posted on 06/21/2007 3:47:39 PM PDT by radar101
SAN DIEGO – Border Patrol agents in East County seized hundreds of pounds of marijuana valued at almost three-quarters of a million dollars Wednesday from a truck that was driven over the border on metal ramps. An agent was patrolling the area about two miles east of Campo at 7:30 a.m. when he noticed a suspicious-looking 2006 Nissan Frontera heading westbound on state Route 94, said Supervisory Border Patrol agent Richard E. Smith.
The agent began to follow the truck but it made a U-turn and began to drive erratically, Smith said. The truck left the paved road and headed southbound on a dirt road toward Mexico.
The agent followed the truck to the border where he found about 20 people on the U.S. side erecting the ramps so the truck could get back into Mexico. Smith said the smugglers probably alerted their accomplices that they had been spotted.
The two occupants of the truck bailed out and the whole group ran back into Mexico. One of them turned and pointed a gun at the agent but did not fire, Smith said.
Agents confiscated the ramps and the pickup in which they found 60 packages of marijuana valued at $735,000.
Smith said it is not uncommon for smugglers to use metal ramps to cross the border in areas that are blocked by steel vehicle barriers. The barriers, a horizontal bar anchored to posts in the ground with large boulders beneath, are designed to stop vehicles from driving across. They are much lower than the standard border fence. Agents found a similar ramp setup last week.
The ramps may be hidden nearby or driven to a spot and assembled, Smith said.
The Border Patrol said that Mexican authorities were called after the incident but did not respond.
those Border Patrol agents better get ready to go on trial.
Is that our spiffy new $7 trillion border fence?
Its a good thing the agent didnt fire on illegal aliens smuggling drugs into the country! The drug smuggler would be the star witness against the agent and would have been awarded a nice settlement for his trouble to start his new life in America..
That’s not what I think of when I think of a border fence. That’s gully and a guardrail.
“Smoker And The Bandito” starring Burrito Reynolds
That’s not what I think of when I hear talk of a border fence either. They built several miles of vehicle barrier near me last winter and the media kept referring to it as a fence and acting like that was the fence we were promised last year. I even had a couple discussions with some people on FR about the difference when they quoted some of the articles claiming a fence was being built. It’s easy to understand the confusion- the government and the media want people to be confused.
These agents will be accused of hate crimes and jailed.
That’s not fence or wall, that is ‘vehicle barrier’ or ‘vehicle barricade’.
If you listen carefully to the words, and can get them to actually say what they mean, you’ll hear half-a-dozen different terms to identify what kind of border obstacle is being proposed.
Of course, you know that ‘creek. This comment is more for those who aren’t involved in the discussion on a day-to-day basis.
I’ve been along this stretch of the border near Campo a couple of times, and, in fact, had a Border Patrol agent tell me about even more elaborate ramps the smugglers have been known to use - similar to a hydraulic car hauler trailer. Back up to the fence, lower the ramps, and the vehicles drive right over the top into the US. Fold up the ramps and drive away...
It’s pretty clear that a fence is only part of a solution. I don’t even pretend we’ll get help from Mexico so the rest of the solution is in this country. Simply stated, those who hire illegals need to go to jail if they continue to hire illegals and no illegal should ever get welfare.
The problem is , with just a stroke of a pen they will all become “legal” and then qualify for welfare, SS, and all the other goodies they want but never paid for.
Probably wont hear much from the libertarian pro potheads on this topic post
I wonder when the drug traffickers will build one of these babies and launch their drugs over the border into the desert for their people on our side of the border to find and recover.
Just imagine the kind of target practice one of these suckers will pose.
Hmm... and is using a medieval siege engine to launch projectiles into U.S. territory an act of war?
We're too stoned...marijuana helps us ease the pain of the GOP screwing America over.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.