U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego discovered 19 people, including convicted drug traffickers, hiding in a drainage system near the border, according to a Customs and Border Protection press release.
On the evening of May 4, Border Patrol agents from the Chula Vista Station detected “suspicious activity” near drainage tunnels using the Remote Video Surveillance System. When they responded to the scene, they found individuals attempting to illegally enter the U.S. through the system.
“If you try to illegally cross our border, we will catch you and arrest you.”
The agents arrested 19 suspects: 16 adults and three unaccompanied minors, all Mexican citizens.
Customs and Border Protection stated: “The dedicated men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, alongside our law enforcement partners, have arrested and removed thousands of criminal aliens from the country — including gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers — to make our communities safer.”
Among those detained were Raudel Carrillo-Padilla, 35, and his brother Ivan Carrillo-Padilla, 31. The two had previously been deported from the U.S. following a 2017 conviction for possession, transport, and intent to sell methamphetamine in Yreka, California. Ivan Carrillo-Padilla was deported a second time after he was arrested in 2019 for a drug-related interdiction stop in Eugene, Oregon.
