PHOTO: Drug Smugglers’ SUV Stuck Atop Border Fence
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection(WASHINGTON) — Maybe they should have gone under the fence instead of trying to go over. The Border Patrol says that two would-be drug smugglers got their Jeep Cherokee stuck on top of the 14-foot fence between Mexico and California and had to leave the car hanging in mid-air.
According to the Border Patrol, agents from the Yuma, Arizona station surprised two apparent smugglers early Tuesday morning in the Imperial Sand Dunes area of Southeastern California. The smugglers had driven their silver SUV up a metal ramp on the Mexican side of the fence and were trying to drive down a ramp on the U.S. side when the bottom of the vehicle got hung up on the fence.
In a statement, the Border Patrol said the men “fell prey to their own devices” when they used “a make-shift ramp that was not quite up to the task.”
The men fled, leaving their empty vehicle behind. A Border Patrol spokesman said it had most likely been used to smuggle marijuana, since smugglers had been intercepted using the same technique before.
The agency removed the Jeep from the fence, and then seized both the SUV and the two ramps.
Five years ago, Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was killed in the same area when he was deliberately struck by a vehicle while he was trying to deploy a tire deflation device.
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