U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations agents recently disrupted an attempt to smuggle three undocumented aliens via private aircraft at the Edinburg International Airport in Edinburg, Texas.
Following a pilot document and immigration inspection, air interdiction agents determined that the two pilots, who are U.S. citizens, were attempting to fly three undocumented aliens. This led to the arrest of five individuals and the seizure of one Beechcraft King Air 200, twin-engine airplane.
This was the second aviation smuggling attempt in one week in the Rio Grande Valley that by Air and Marine Operations agents disrupted.
“Aviation smuggling in the Rio Grande Valley is nothing new,” Steve Jones, supervisory air interdiction agent of the McAllen Air and Marine Branch, said. “Part of Air and Marine Operations mission is to interdict these attempts. Circumventing the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints, and the TSA no-fly list, can pose to a national security risk.”
Individuals traveling by privately owned aircraft do not have to go through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspection or a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. Air and Marine Operations, however, has the authority to complete pilot document inspections in accordance, as well as immigration inspections.
“We rely on the general public to alert us to suspicious activity,” Jones said. “However, Air and Marine Operations will continue to conduct random, and unpredictable, pilot document and immigration inspections on international and domestic flights via private aircraft.”