CBP Air and Marine Operations Arrest Five People for Undocumented Alien Smuggling at Edinburg, TX International Airport

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

United States Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations Agents, disrupted an aviation smuggling attempt of undocumented aliens on November 22, 2017 at the Edinburg International Airport at 12:30 P.M. in Edinburg, Texas.

CBP Air and Marine Agents interdicted a private airplane at the Edinburg International Airport and conducted an immigration and pilot inspection of two U.S. Citizen pilots and three individuals.  

The investigation resulted in the three individuals being undocumented aliens in the U.S.  CBP Air and Marine Agents arrested the two U.S. Citizen pilots for attempting to smuggle undocumented aliens via private aircraft and seized their airplane, a Beechcraft Air King 200 twin engine airplane, and the three undocumented aliens for having entered the U.S. without legal documents to be in the country.  In total, five people were arrested and a private airplane was seized as a result of this successful CBP Air and Marine Operations interdiction and investigation.

CBP Air and Marine Operations reports this is  the second air smuggling attempt via private airplane disrupted in the Rio Grande Valley during the the week.  

People traveling on a private airplane do not have to go through a TSA inspection at an airport nor a Border Patrol Checkpoint inspection. Thus, air smuggling of undocumented aliens has become a lucrative business in the Rio Grande Valley and United States.

“Aviation smuggling is nothing new in the Rio Grande Valley. Part of Air and Marine Operations mission is to interdict these attempts. Circumventing the U.S. Border Patrol check points and the TSA no fly list can pose to a national security risk,” said Steve Jones, CBP Supervisory Air Interdiction Agent at the McAllen Air and Marine Branch. “We rely on the general public to alert us to suspicious activity. 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,” added Jones.

CBP Air and Marine Operations has the authority to complete pilot document inspections in accordance with federal law together with immigration inspections.  Charter Air Companies and private aircraft pilots who are flying undocumented aliens will be arrested and charged with criminal charges as well as have their aircraft seized by the U.S. Government under federal law.