Border Patrol agents in Arizona arrest suspected cartel scouts, 1 foot guide

PHOENIX — Southern Arizona Border Patrol agents arrested suspected cartel scouts and one foot guide connected to the Los Memos transnational criminal group, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Friday.

On Monday, Border Patrol agents near the city of Maricopa and north of Interstate 8 arrested one Mexican national, who confessed to illegally crossing the Arizona border. After further investigation, agents obtained “communication and observation devices” from the unnamed man.

The next day, a separate group of Border Patrol agents in northwest Marana arrested a Mexican and Guatemalan pair hanging out in the Silverbell Mountains. The agents seized similar surveillance devices.

Also on Tuesday, agents near Pisinemo Village on the Tohono O’odham Nation reservation apprehended two Mexican nationals who had entered the country illegally. One of these men was determined to be a foot guide for a transnational criminal group associated with the larger cartel operator, Cártel de Sinaloa.

What’s next for the suspected cartel scouts, others?

All five men are being held at the Casa Grande Patrol Station for “further processing,” according to a press release. Three of the men will be subject to charges related to human smuggling and conspiracy in smuggling activity.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona has been actively involved in these cases.

“The U.S. Attorney’s office has been a valuable partner in our efforts to secure the border,” Chief patrol agent Sean McGoffin of the Tucson sector said in the release. “Taking away the eyes and ears of the smugglers makes it harder to move people and contraband, making it safer for agents and communities on both sides of the international border.”

Based on an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in late January, Cártel de Sinaloa and those in affiliation are considered “foreign terrorist organizations.”

CBP officers recently arrested an American man near Douglas who was attempting to smuggle an undocumented Mexican migrant.

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