A U.S. Border Patrol agent faces smuggling charges after he was arrested in the southwestern Arizona desert Sunday night with bales of marijuana in his agency vehicle.
As he was being arrested, according to court documents, Agent Aaron Anaya told the FBI agents, "I'm fucked, you got me on video."
The case started Sunday afternoon. FBI agents with a corruption task force were tracking him as he drove toward the border fence near Yuma, Ariz. According to court records they watched as three men on the Mexican side approached Anaya and passed him bales. He drove off, the task force still watching him from aircraft. Anaya triggered a series of ground sensors and radioed dispatch that it was only him in his vehicle setting off the sensors.
He was arrested hours later with nearly 150 pounds of marijuana in the back seat of his Border Patrol vehicle.
According to Congressional testimony given in August, 141 Customs and Border Protection employees had been arrested or indicted on corruption charges since 2004. The tally includes drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, money laundering and conspiracy.
