Several arrests made by federal authorities in July show how the use of fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and high-mounted cameras is providing law enforcement officials important tools for fighting drug and human smuggling at the Arizona – Mexico border.
On July 16, the U.S. Border Patrol responded to a 911 call from a concerned citizen who observed two people jump into the back of a pickup truck between Bisbee and Naco. But first, authorities had to locate the truck.
“A Mobile Surveillance Capable Camera Operator located a 2021 Nissan Frontier which matched the description as it entered the town of Bisbee,” according to the criminal complaint authorized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tucson. “An air asset followed until an agency stopped [the truck] on SR-92 and Escarcega Street.”
That is when two Maricopa County residents, Tammy Ann Price and Wesley Alan Bastin, were arrested for transportation of an illegal alien for profit while placing the life of a person in jeopardy. They are also charged with conspiracy to violate federal law.
Court record show one of the migrants told investigators she was guided via cellphone to a “load up” location where the female driver signaled for her and the other border crosser to get inside the truck. She also stated that at one point a man matching Bastin’s description instructed the two migrants to get into the bed of the truck. The U.S. Marshal Service is detaining the woman as a material witness for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Price, 48, and Bastin, 55, have been ordered to appear for a Sept. 8 status hearing with Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Rateau in advance of an Oct. 13 jury trial. A Sept. 25 plea deal deadline has been imposed in their cases. Court records show a forfeiture claim has been filed by the U.S. government for the 2021 Nissan used in the alleged offense.
A week later, four people were taken into custody in Tucson on federal drug charges following critical support from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Air Wing.
Court records show air surveillance of a Nissan Altima driven by Marie Katarina Bryant on July 23 began shortly after the vehicle crossed into the United States at the Mariposa Port of Entry (POE) in Nogales. One passenger, Jerry Lee Bryant, was in the vehicle.
A primary inspection of the Altima conducted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer and K9 alerted to the Altima’s rear quarter panels. The alert triggered an order for Bryant, age 44 of Tucson, to pull into a secondary inspection area for a portable x-ray of the car.
“The x-ray detected anomalies in the rear quarter panel, behind the rear seats,” a USBP agent wrote in the criminal complaint. However, instead of arresting the Bryants, the Altima was allowed to depart the checkpoint as if nothing suspicious had been found.
But that did not mean the Bryants were in the clear, even if they could not see anyone following them. In fact, the DEA Air Wing kept the Altima under observation as it drove to Tucson as operators kept law enforcement personnel on the ground advised of the vehicle’s location.
The car eventually came to a stop outside a residence near S. Kramer Ave. and 36th Street, where the Bryants and two men -later identified as Jose Manual Fuentes and Alfonso Mario Palacios- were seen unloading 29 packages of what turned out to be more than 31 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.
“Aviation support is critical to DEA’s strategic mission of disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations that have a significant impact on America’s illegal drug availability,” according to the agency’s website. “The Aviation Division supports DEA’s enforcement efforts through surveillance, photographic reconnaissance, movement of personnel and cargo and transportation of fugitives and prisoners.”
All four defendants are scheduled to be arraigned later this week for importation and distribution of meth. A trial date will be set following arraignment, as well as a deadline for any plea deals.
