Customs and Border Protection has released new statistics for the first five months of the fiscal year, which started in October 2019, on the number of previously convicted criminals arrested by Border Patrol agents. The numbers are astounding and climb into the tens-of-thousands.
CBP officers and Border Patrol agents have arrested 16,427 individuals with criminal convictions or currently wanted by law enforcement in the first 5 months of the fiscal year. Learn more: https://t.co/C5Kx1xaQMa pic.twitter.com/hGVvh9ZQsh
— CBP (@CBP) March 6, 2020
Just last week in the El Centro sector, Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported sex offender and an MS-13 gang member with a violent history.
The first incident occurred at around 6:02 p.m., when agents assigned to the Calexico Station encountered a man suspected of illegally entering the United States approximately half a mile east of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry. Agents arrested the man and transported him to the El Centro Station for immigration and criminal history screening.
Agents conducted records checks, which revealed that the man identified as David De Jesus Leiva-Arevalo, a 21-year-old Salvadorian national, is a self-admitted Mara Salvatrucha MS-13 gang member with a criminal history.
Leiva is being held in federal custody pending further criminal prosecution.
The second incident occurred at around 11:21 p.m., when agents assigned to the Calexico Station encountered a man suspected of illegally entering the United States approximately 18 miles east of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry. Agents arrested the man and transported him to the El Centro Station for immigration and criminal history screening.
Agents conducted records checks, which revealed that the man identified as Juan Carlos Castanon, a 48-year-old Mexican national, had a conviction on May 5, 1990, for “Lewd or Lascivious Acts W/Child Under 14” out of Santa Clara. The man was sentenced to six months confinement and five years’ probation for his conviction.
Castanon is being held in federal custody pending further criminal prosecution.
CBP has also released data on drug confiscation at ports of entry and elsewhere.
CBP officers and Border Patrol agents have seized over 69,000lbs of meth nationwide in the first 5 months of the fiscal year—a 45% increase over this time last year. Learn more: https://t.co/C5Kx1xaQMa pic.twitter.com/xgol85k30I
— CBP (@CBP) March 8, 2020