Dope Smugglers Caught Napping On 350 Lbs of Pot
Smuggling pot is a risky venture. Sleeping on top of the 353 pounds of marijuana that drug traffickers tasked you with bringing across the U.S.-Mexico border only increases that risk.
Just ask Luis Alberto Pesina-Hernandez and Jesus Vela-Rodriguez, the two men nabbed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents early Saturday morning near the Brownsville, Texas Landfill a few kilometers from the border.
No, this is not an episode from Weeds,...yet.
According to the federal criminal complaint (below), Pesina-Hernandez and Rodriguez were part of a larger group totaling six people whose footprints were spotted after a ground sensor notified CBP of activity near the landfill.
At 1:00 am, two CBP agents started tracking the footprints. At 5:30 a.m., one of the agents "saw six subjects sleeping on top of six bundles" near an intersection. They all woke up when an agent identified himself, and tried to flee, and but only two were caught.
Once in custody, the suspects apparently had no hesitation about speaking with CPB and DEA agents. Ater being read Miranda warnings, the two allegedly explained how they illegally crossed entered the U.S. and took turns carrying the pot "until stopping to rest before being caught."
You can read their comedy of errors in this criminal caper gone awry here:
Related Resources:
- Feds: Men Sleeping on Bundles of Pot, The Brownsville Herald (Sept. 29, 2009)
- U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration