Cloned UPS van among vehicles stopped at border carrying contraband

Cloned UPS van

A van disguised as United Parcel Service delivery vehicle was found trying to deliver a load of illegal aliens near El Centro, CA, on May 18.

CBP’s El Centro Sector agents arrested a 21-year-old male attempting to smuggle illegal aliens using the cloned UPS van.

A Border Patrol agent saw a UPS van trying to circumvent the Highway 111 Checkpoint, said the CBP. Agents stopped the vehicle and discovered 13 passengers hiding inside the back. Agents, said the CBP, determined the van was not a legitimate UPS vehicle.

The driver was identified as a U.S. citizen, but 13 passengers were identified as Mexican citizens without legal immigration documents. The driver and illegal aliens were arrested and the cloned van was seized.

CBP officers in southwestern Texas found a different cargo in a 1997 Buick LeSabre the same day. Officers working the Eagle Pass port of entry on May 18 seized more than 12 pounds of cocaine from the vehicle as it entered the country from Mexico.

CBP officers at Eagle Pass Bridge No. 1 referred the LeSabre, driven by a 27-year-old Mexican citizen Piedras Negras, for intensive inspection. Officers scanned the car using a non-intrusive imaging system and discovered six electrical tape-wrapped packages hidden inside the vehicle. A field test determined the packages contained a total of 12.67 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $405,504, said the agency.

The suspect was turned over to agents of Homeland Security Investigations.“The persistence of our CBP officers, coupled with their training, was instrumental in preventing this load of narcotics from reaching America’s streets,” said CBP Port director Cynthia Rodriguez.