U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced two separate incidents of significance on Monday, including one seizure and one arrest of a possible murder suspect.
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a Mexican national over the Easter weekend. The suspect, Sergio Coronado-Mata, had been deported after serving 11 years in prison for his involvement in a drive-by shooting in Tucson in 2001. After his arrest Easter arrest, agents conducting biometric records checks learned of the Coronado-Mata’s manslaughter conviction in Pima County in 2001. He was formally charged with felony reentry after deportation by an aggravated felon.
Another incident occurred on Easter Sunday when Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector seized two horses carrying large packs of marijuana through the desert near Sasabe.
“These types of technology assets strengthens and multiplies Border Patrol effectiveness in a wide variety of scenarios in Tucson Sector’s unpredictable and remote terrain,” Division Chief Raleigh Leonard said. “Improved technology has enhanced our ability to deter, detect, identify, classify, and resolve border incursions. Technology also provides agents improved situational awareness and facilitates an appropriate level of response according to the level of threat,” he added. “Agents are advised in advance if the detected activity is armed narcotics traffickers or unarmed migrants.”