Pubdate: Fri, 22 Apr 2016
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2016 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 DRUG-SMUGGLER GETS 3 YEARS PRISON

SAN DIEGO - Brayan Valle was looking to buy some marijuana.

When he reached out to a business associate of his uncle's, a drug 
connection, Valle became involved in a much more serious - and novel 
- - offense. Rather than sell him the marijuana, the associate asked 
for Valle's help to smuggle drugs over the U.S.-Mexico border by drone.

The case signals the first drone drug-smuggling seizure along the 
Southwest border.

On Thursday, Valle, now 21, was sentenced to three years in prison 
for his role in operating the drone remote control and loading up 30 
pounds of heroin dropped into a Calexico-area field on April 28.

"Use of drones appear to be on the horizon," U.S. District Court 
Judge Gonzalo Curiel said before declaring the sentence. "The court 
needs to be clear these cases present considerable danger to our community."

Authorities say law enforcement departments have since then 
intercepted at least two more drone drug loads, including one near 
Yuma, Ariz., that netted about 30 pounds of marijuana in January. 
Doubts have been raised, however, as to how popular the smuggling 
method might become due to the small amount of drugs a drone can carry.

In Valle's case, it took hours for the drone to make four drops over 
the border fence, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Hobson.

It started when Valle approached his uncle's friend about obtaining 
some marijuana, said Valle's defense lawyer, Kathryn Thickstun. The 
friend instead suggested helping him smuggle marijuana over the 
border in exchange for some.

Valle agreed but later tried to back out, Thickstun said. She said he 
was told he had no choice in the matter.

Valle recruited a friend from high school he'd only known a month, 
Jonathan Elias, to drive him to and from the drop-off point, a field. 
The smugglers provided Valle with cellphones to coordinate the 
transaction via the encrypted WhatsApp messaging application, as well 
as the drone remote control, which would allow Valle to release the 
drugs from the drone's claw, prosecutors said.

For hours in a field about a half-mile from the border, Valle 
collected the bubble-wrapped drugs, which he thought were marijuana 
packages but turned out to be heroin. He filled a backpack to 
capacity. He was observed by Border Patrol agents loading it into 
Elias' trunk on Highway 98 before being caught.

Both Valle and Elias pleaded guilty to possession of drugs with 
intent to distribute.

The prosecutor said Valle's role in pulling off the smuggling should 
not be minimized, while Valle's lawyer said Mexican drug traffickers 
had taken advantage of a "young, malleable, impressionable man who 
was looking to buy a small quantity of drugs."

The judge noted Valle's criminal record, which includes a battery 
conviction and reports of making violent threats to his 
ex-girlfriend, was a factor in the decision to sentence him to custody.

Elias is to be sentenced June 3.
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