Pubdate: Thu, 13 Aug 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Kristina Davis

DRONE CARRIED HEROIN INTO U.S.

Seizure Near Calexico First in U.S. Involving Smuggle-By-Air Tactic

When 28 pounds of heroin made it across the U.S.-Mexico border near 
Calexico in April, it didn't come by the usual methods of car, truck 
or tunnel. It came by drone, federal authorities said Wednesday, 
making it the first cross-border seizure by U.S. law enforcement 
involving the new smuggle-by-air tactic.

Two men pleaded guilty Tuesday to retrieving the drugs near state 
Route 98 in Imperial County, a pickup that was captured on Border 
Patrol cameras on April 28, according to court records.

"With border security tight, drug traffickers have thought of every 
conceivable method to move their drugs over, under and through the 
border," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement. "We have 
found their tunnels, their Cessnas, their Jet Skis, their pangas, and 
now we have found their drones."

U.S. law enforcement call the use of drug-laden drones from Mexico an 
emerging threat, yet at the same time have questioned how profitable 
the practice might be because drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, 
are limited in how much they can carry.

Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in 
San Diego, said authorities have been prepared for cross-border 
drones since at least last year, when they received a tip that 
smuggling operators may be considering the tactic.

But thus far, the activity appears to be more about test runs, 
authorities said.

Ronnie Martinez, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland 
Security Investigations in El Centro, said various law enforcement 
agencies along the border have banded together to wipe out the 
smugglers' "illicit experiments."

"The use of drones to smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border is 
an emerging threat, which fortunately, has not proven to be a 
lucrative criminal enterprise in the Imperial Valley," Martinez said 
in a statement.

Specialized units have also been formed to detect and combat all 
aerial drug smuggling, including planes and ultralight aircraft, 
another up-and-coming trend.

Drones as a drug-smuggling tool made news in January when one hauling 
meth crashed in the parking lot of a Tijuana shopping center, two 
miles from the U.S. border. It was loaded with about seven pounds of 
drugs and was likely being ferried from neighborhood to neighborhood, 
Mexican law enforcement said.

The weight of its load might have brought it crashing down, they said.

U.S. authorities in California said at the time that no drone 
smuggling had yet been detected north of the border.

But it didn't take long.

Months later, Border Patrol camera operators spotted a person walking 
in a field near Calexico with a large object, then waving down a 
vehicle, according to the complaint. The large item was thrown in the 
trunk, the person climbed into the passenger seat and the vehicle took off.

Agents stopped the suspect vehicle nearby and found a duffel bag full 
of drugs in the trunk. The drugs later tested positive for heroin.

The driver, Jonathan Elias, 18, told agents in an interview that he'd 
known the passenger, Brayan Valle, about a month, according to the 
complaint. He said Valle had called and asked to pick up him and the 
drugs for $100.

Valle, 19, also admitted picking up the drugs, as well as a drone 
controller, according to his plea agreement.

They each pleaded guilty Tuesday in El Centro federal court to one 
count of possession of drugs with intent to distribute. They are set 
to be sentenced in San Diego on Oct. 20.

Their plea agreements don't give further details about the drone 
itself or who operated it.

Small drones, which have become easily accessible and affordable to 
the general public, can fly up to an hour and as far away as five 
miles, and some can be navigated by preset GPS coordinates. Mexican 
media has reported that drug cartels are commissioning engineers for 
custom-made drones.

Drug-smuggling drones have been reported going over prison walls in 
other countries, including Australia and Brazil, and just last week 
one crashed in an Ohio prison yard. It was carrying heroin, marijuana 
and tobacco.
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