Operation yields human trafficking arrests

A three-week Border Patrol operation west of Yuma, Arizona, between April and May yielded the arrests of 170 human trafficking suspects.

Special Operations Detachment (SOD) and Intelligence Border Patrol agents detected the suspects near the Imperial Sand Dunes. Operation Sandman apprehended a total of 145 foreign nationals who were being smuggled into the United States, with an additional 25 subjects arrested for coordinating and facilitating human smuggling attempts.

“The joint efforts between Yuma and El Centro Sectors and all personnel involved in this operation have made our country and communities safer for everyone,” Anthony J. Porvaznik, Yuma Sector chief patrol agent, said. “We are committed to enforcing the rule of law and dismantling the criminal organizations that victimize people throughout the world.”

Yuma and El Centro Sector intelligence units are responsible for prioritizing, analyzing and providing intelligence support through specialized teams and units that counteract terrorism and transnational crime.

Yuma Sector is comprised of certified special operations agents from the Special Operations Group; the Border Patrol Search Trauma & Rescue Unit; and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit. Agents assigned to the unit undergo an intense training regimen before being certified SOD agents.

Border patrol officials said 15 vehicles involved were seized and three additional ones were returned to rental companies after the occupants were arrested.