Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Public Safety

Border Agents Found Guilty Of Force-Feeding Marijuana To Smugglers

Border Agents Found Guilty Of Force-Feeding Marijuana To Smugglers
A federal grand jury in Tucson found two U.S. Border Patrol agents guilty of violating the civil rights of four drug smugglers they arrested in the desert.

Border Patrol Agents Indictment
Read the indictment of Border Patrol Agents Dario Castillo and Ramon Zuniga on charges of conspiracy to deprive persons of civil rights; civil rights deprivation under color of law; and tampering with a witness.
To view PDF files, download Acrobat Reader.

A federal jury in Tucson found two U.S. Border Patrol agents guilty of violating the civil rights of four drug smugglers they arrested in the desert. One of the agents was found guilty of four felonies.

During an arrest in November 2008, Border Patrol Agent Ramon Zuniga grabbed some of the smugglers’ marijuana and shoved it into their mouths. Then he and agent Dario Castillo ordered the men to strip down to their underwear and ran them out into the winter desert. The agents then burned the clothes.

Advertisement

Zuniga was found guilty on four misdemeanor charges. Castillo was found guilty of four felony counts for the deprivation of rights.

Both agents were suspended from the Border Patrol before the case went to trial. Sentencing will take place in July.

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.