Hondurans Remain in US Marshals Custody After Smuggling Meth While Unlawfully Crossing Into U.S.

border patrol
[Photo courtesy Border Patrol]

A federal magistrate has ordered that five Honduran nationals arrested last month while smuggling more than $300,000 worth of methamphetamine from Mexico as they themselves were being smuggled into the United States must remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The five men were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol on June 8 near the village of Santa Cruz on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. They are facing charges of conspiracy to possess meth with the intent to distribute as well as immigration violations.

The criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the time of arrest notes the men -Dolman Alvarado-Castro, Franklin Ortiz-Bernardez, Cristian Benjamin Giran-Rodriguez, Gery Armando Szuazo-Guevera, and Mario Roberto Andino-Hernandez- admitted being recruited while they were in Mexico.

Some, including Szuazo-Guevera, said they received a discount off their smuggling fee by agreeing to carry the backpacks, each of which contained a large plastic container. The containers held small bags of meth that weighed a total of 145 pounds.

However, the men told authorities they believed the backpacks contained marijuana, not meth.

The plastic container found inside a large backpack is full of smaller packages of meth. [Photo courtesy U.S. Border Patrol]
According to the complaint, USBP agents assigned to the agency’s Casa Grande Off-Road Vehicle Unit and a Mobile Response Team were alerted by a camera sensor along a remote trail in the Mesquite Mountain range southwest of Sells. The camera showed at least four individuals walking north, each carrying a large camouflage backpack.

“Agents responded to the location and were able to find footprints in the ground of the individuals traveling further into a mountain range,” the complaint states. “While tracking the footprints, agents located three large camouflage backpacks with smaller camouflage backpacks tied to them approximately halfway up the southern ridge of the mountain.”

With the help of a helicopter and a K9 unit, USBP agents located four backpacks containing meth and one backpack of food. They also located five men hiding in a rocky crevasse among some trees along a ridgeline.

Special Agents with Homeland Security Investigations handled the post-Miranda interviews. The complaint notes Szuazo-Guevera said the five men were assisted across the border by a foot guide who provided them the backpacks. They traveled about three hours before realizing they were under surveillance, then attempted to avoid further detection.

The complaint does not mention where the men crossed into the U.S. or that one of the men is the subject of a felony warrant in Georgia. Four of the five had prior immigration violations, according to USBP.

COVID-19 protocols at the U.S. District courthouse in Tucson has caused some delays with the filing of formal felony charges, which would normally have been completed by now. The man can seek pretrial release at a later date.