Some Mexican smugglers were arrested after crashing a truck through the old landing mat border wall system.
Sixteen people have been arrested in what the feds have described as a “brazen” smuggling attempt in which they cut through a portion of the wall along the US-Mexico border and entered Southern California, according to reports.
Border Patrol agents spotted a white Dodge 4500 utility truck crossing into the US near Campo about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday after human smugglers cut a hole in the wall, officials said.
A few minutes later, agents saw a man with a vehicle matching that description trying to cut a lock on the gate of a nearby home with bolt cutters.
“Agents activated their emergency lights and siren to stop the suspect vehicle, but the driver refused to yield and fled,” border agents said.
The truck eventually stopped and the driver and the 15 other people inside the vehicle began running before finally being collared, officials said.
“All 16 admitted to entering the US illegally and were transported to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing,” according to the agency.
Nine of the people were Mexican males ages 15 to 53, five were Mexican women ages 18 to 40 and two were Guatemalan — a 28-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman.
The 27-year-old Mexican driver’s stolen truck was seized and he “will be criminally prosecuted,” officials said.
The breached wall, which is made of old landing mats, was constructed in the 1990s, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Just to be clear, they did not crash through the new wall/fence system that the orange man is putting up.
I’m actually more positive about the new wall/fence system that’s going up than others are. The report about smugglers sawing through the new wall/fence system with simple power tools originated from the Washington Post so I’m skeptical that the report is even true.
Either way, it is better to have the new barriers than not. They’ve already proven to be more effective at preventing illegal crossings. Israel also uses a fence system on their border with Egypt which is much more of an apple to apple comparison to the lengthy border the United States has with Mexico.
