Despite the fact that the border is wide open, leaving few with reason to evade Border Patrol agents, public safety personnel in Cochise County continue to battle human smugglers.
According to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, on Wednesday December 13, 2023 at approximately 2:55 p.m., members of the Safe Streets task force attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a 2016 Nissan Altima on East Highway 80 near mile post 374 outside of Douglas.
Multiple agencies attempted to engage in stopping the vehicle as it travelled through the outskirts of Douglas before travelling westbound on Highway 80. Near the intersection of Highway 191 and Highway 80, the driver of the vehicle crossed the median and continued travel westbound in the eastbound lanes before turning into Cochise College Douglas Campus.
The driver of the vehicle stopped near the aviation building, and leaving the vehicle in gear, the male subject fled with a backpack/bag in his possession into the campus area.
Cochise College was locked down for an estimated 30 minutes before the suspect was captured in a bathroom stall inside of the aviation building.
The vehicle was stopped and two undocumented immigrants were turned over to Border Patrol for processing. The male subject, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen, Brian del sol Arellano, from Tucson, was arrested and booking into the Cochise County Jail on felony Human Smuggling charges and others pending.