Latest news with #borderpatrol
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
104 pounds of cocaine found in Riverside County drug bust
Authorities discovered 104 pounds of cocaine being smuggled through an immigration checkpoint in Riverside County. On June 4, U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped a silver SUV at the I-15 North immigration checkpoint in Temecula. While interviewing the driver, a K-9 alerted authorities to the possible presence of narcotics. After searching the SUV, agents found '40 suspicious bundles that were concealed within the roof in an aftermarket motorized compartment.' The bundles were removed and were discovered to contain cocaine. The packages weighed a total of 104 pounds. Officials estimated the street value at $708,000. The driver, who was only identified as a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody by Homeland Security. The case was referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office for federal charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute. 'Drug smugglers are often resourceful, but our dedicated agents are always watching,' said Jeffrey D. Stalnaker, San Diego Acting Chief Patrol Agent. 'Our agents are the best of the best, and we remain resolute in our mission to keep communities safe.' To report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol, the public can call 911 or the San Diego U.S. Border Patrol Sector at 619-498-9900. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
CBP detains two suspected human smugglers, seize firearms
CAMPO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A human smuggling attempt was prevented Wednesday during a vehicle stop on Interstate 8 near the U.S.-Mexico border. Around 8:45 p.m., agents with the Campo Station pulled over a Ford pickup truck on eastbound I-8 near Jacumba Hot Springs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a news release Friday. Agents conducted an immigration inspection that determined two people in the vehicle as suspected smugglers, one male U.S. citizen and one female Mexican national, while two others were identified as migrants from Mexico. Authorities found two handguns and one ghost gun-style rifle inside the truck. There were also 23 rounds of 5.56mm rifle ammunition, 69 rounds of 9mm ammunition and 6 magazines recovered. Remains found at Torrey Pines State Beach identified as 10-year-old girl 'The privately made rifle was discovered without a serial number and the two handguns were registered to an individual not present in the vehicle,' CBP said. All four people were transported to the Campo Station for processing, along with the vehicle and firearms. The suspected human smugglers face felony charges in violation of bringing in and harboring aliens and unlawful acts involving firearms, according to border officials. The two migrants will be removed to Mexico. Anyone who sees suspicious activity is asked to contact 911 or San Diego Sector at 619-498-9900. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
REVEALED: Never-before-seen footage of UFO dubbed The Cigar soaring over US border
An Army veteran and former border patrol agent has revealed shocking and unexplained sightings taking place at the US southern border. Bob Thompson, who spent 14 years with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is now showing the world a never-before-seen UFO spotted near Arizona. The unidentified object, called 'The Cigar,' was recorded by a CBP reconnaissance plane in early 2020, capturing the mysterious craft flying at a high rate of speed. Thompson told NewsNation's Ross Coulthart that the UFO had a short, cylindrical body with no visible wings or propellers. Moreover, CBP cameras didn't even see a visible heat trail from an engine, so its method of propulsion is still a mystery. Thompson said he has spoken to more than 100 CBP agents who have witnessed strange and unidentified objects flying along the US border. While coordinating the airspace along the southern border, Thompson added that he's also seen all sorts of different UFO designs invading US territory. 'I've seen orbs that were off in the distance. I've seen crafts that were cigar-shaped, I've seen triangles,' the whistleblower said. Although many of these accounts are being dismissed as drones, likely flown by drug cartels trying to sneak into the US, Thompson claimed that there's more going on that just illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Thompson is an Army veteran who went on to serve with US Customs and Border Protection for 14 years. He's now revealing what he and other agents saw in the skies above the US-Mexico border 'No one likes to talk about it freely. I think it's just still a taboo subject,' Thompson said on Reality Check with Ross Coulthart. The never-before-seen video was taken just months after another UFO sighting involving a strange craft that had the shape of a rubber duck. That November 2019 sighting took place as CBP was following a group who crossed the US border illegally in Arizona's Buenos Aires National Wildlife Area. Similar to the cigar UFO, which had no visible heat trail, the rubber duck UFO's thermal signature did not match any known planes or drones. The cigar video was taken near the same wildlife preserve and Thompson admitted that the US border patrol still has no idea what the object was. The whistleblower added that the cigar-shaped object could have been a new missile being tested, but there's simply no way to know for sure without a full investigation. Despite the Office of the Director of National Intelligence mandating that incidents like this be collected and investigated, Coulthart noted that there's been 'a deafening silence' about recent UFO cases. Thompson noted that unexplained aircraft aren't the only thing being seen along the border. CBP agents have also spotted terrifying 'portals' opening into the sky. Thompson's claim that border patrol agents have seen portals opening in the sky is similar to motorcyclist Frankie Camren of Bonner Springs, Kansas, who was driving down a quiet street when he spotted a strange black ring (pictured) appear in the sky 'I got told that they witnessed a portal opening up in the sky and there were pictures of it on a camera that I was able to see,' Thompson revealed. The veteran CBP officer added that agents knew these weren't glowing orbs or some other type of UFO and actually witnessed the portals as they were opening up out of thin air. Thompson's claims are just the latest unexplained accounts coming out of Arizona, where Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents show several Air Force pilots have encountered 'swarms' of UFOs in recent years. On January 19, 2025, an unidentified object actually struck an F-16 Viper fighter jet, damaging the canopy and forcing the $63 million aircraft to land. So far, the FAA hasn't found any conclusive evidence that the object was extraterrestrial. Luis Elizondo, a former government intelligence officer who became a UFO whistleblower, recently led a congressional hearing on UFO sightings and government disclosure. He told NewsNation that Arizona has become a UFO hotspot. 'A lot of people reporting a lot of things out of Arizona, particularly on the border,' Elizondo disclosed. Aside from Thompson's report of portals opening up over Arizona, government authorities have been quick to dismiss the UFO claims as drone sightings. Trump Administration border czar Tom Homan has said that many of these sightings are likely high-tech drones carrying drugs over the US border or spying on US military bases in the area.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
The 'Democrats' answer to Joe Rogan' is detained after giving border agents blunt response about Trump
Popular political streamer Hasan Piker said his left-wing views got him detained by agents with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Chicago 's O'Hare International Airport. Piker, who streams under the name HasanAbi, said that upon his return from Paris on Sunday, he was confronted by border patrol agents before he could officially re-enter the country through Global Entry. In a Monday video, Piker said the agent who interrogated him first asked about what he did for a living. Piker, who stressed that he is a US citizen, said that then snowballed into questions about what he covers on his online platforms and whether he talks about President Donald Trump. The question about Trump was what got Piker to question the motives of the agent, he said. 'That was the first time where I was like, "What is this question?"' he recalled. 'I literally straight up told him, "Why are you asking me this?"' That didn't stop Piker from sharing his opinion on Trump, telling the agent, 'I don't like Trump. What are you going to do? It's protected by the First Amendment. I don't like Trump.' 'Nothing I've done online is illegal as of now,' he added. 'Now laws may change in the future and they might actually start prosecuting speech, which I do fear is the goal of this administration. But so far, everything I've done is fully protected under the First Amendment.' In a statement to The Hill, Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary, denied that Piker was scrutinized because of his political beliefs. 'This is nothing but lying for likes. Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas,' McLaughlin said. 'Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released,' she added. Piker concluded that the real reason for CBP pulled him aside was so they could investigate his suspected ties to terrorist organizations in the Middle East, including Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah. Piker denies any direct connection or involvement with any of these groups, however, he did receive backlash earlier this year for doing an interview with Rashid Al Haddad, a 19-year-old thought to be a member of the Houthis. The Houthis have been designated a terrorist group by the US. They primarily operate in Yemen and have been attacking cargo ships and military vessels traveling through the Red Sea in order to disrupt Israel's war effort against Hamas. In Piker's interview with Haddad, who has been nicknamed 'Tim-Houthi Chalamet' for his resemblance to the American actor, the young man said he wasn't a fighting soldier for the Houthis. A picture of him later emerged showing him standing on a hill overlooking fields and villages below with an AK-47 rifle slung over his shoulder. Also, when Haddad was later asked by one of his Instagram followers if he was soldier, he responded 'yes.' Piker said he was asked about this incident specifically, to which he told the CBP agent that the man he interviewed was not a Houthi and was simply a regular Yemeni citizen. Piker added that even if he had interviewed a Houthi or any other member of a terror group, it would be his right to do so as an act of journalism. Piker said the CBP agent repeatedly asked him whether he 'liked' or 'supported' Hamas. He also said he was asked if he viewed Hamas as a resistance group or a terrorist group. Piker said he responded either by saying he is on the side of civilians and wants the bloodshed to stop, or by saying the State Department recognizes Hamas as a terrorist organization. According to Piker, the agent then refocused on the Houthis, asking him whether he agrees that they should be designated as terrorists. 'I said I'm of the Brookings Institution mindset that in 2020 when Donald Trump initially designated the Houthis as a terror organization that that was a major mistake,' Piker recalled. The Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank, did in in fact argue it was a mistake for the first Trump administration to officially declare the Houthis terrorists. 'Designating the Houthis would be bad for Yemeni civilians, bad for peace talks, and, ultimately, bad for U.S. national security. It would also box-in President-Elect Biden before he even takes the oath of office, although perhaps that's part of the attraction for exiting Trump officials,' Brookings analyst Gregory D. Johnsen wrote on November 25, 2020. Piker said the agent eventually 'gave up' when he kept saying that what he's said online is protected speech under the US Constitution. The conversation between him and the agent, which Piker said lasted about two hours, abruptly ended when he eventually asked if he was being detained and if he could freely walk out.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Three CBP officers accused of allowing undocumented migrants to enter US
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Three on-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers accused of allowing vehicles with undocumented individuals to pass through their lanes into the U.S. without inspection at the San Ysidro Port of Entry face multiple charges. Farlis Almonte, 38, of San Diego, Ricardo Rodriguez, 34, of Tijuana, Mexico, and Kairy Stephania Quiñonez, 31, of Imperial Beach, have all been charged with Conspiracy to Bring in Aliens for Financial Gain and Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain, Aiding and Abetting, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release Tuesday. The three CBP officers allegedly 'revealed their lane assignments and hours they were scheduled to work the primary inspection booths at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, so that co-conspirators would know when it was safe to transport undocumented individuals across the border with impunity — sometimes using code words to gain admittance,' according to the indictment. The indictment alleges the defendants falsely reported into the Transportation Enforcement Communications System database the number of occupants in the co-conspirators' vehicles 'to conceal the fact that those vehicles contained undocumented individuals.' Almonte and Rodriguez, both of whom have also been charged with Receipt of Bribes by Public Official, allegedly failed to enforce the immigration laws of the U.S. by allowing vehicles with undocumented immigrants to enter the U.S. in exchange for money, per the indictment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
