La Prensa San Diego Staff
As of December 15, San Diego Border Patrol has been on alert due to an increase in recorded undocumented incursions and the group of smugglers that smuggles these migrants from Tecate across the California border.
In less than four days, Border Patrol had detained 41 individuals being transported through a complex network of roads by smugglers, known as “polleros” or “coyotes”, from Tecate, Baja California to San Diego.
Four vehicles were seized, but at least eight of the smugglers fled on foot. Border Patrol stated that these individuals are part of a criminal organization operating unchecked from Tecate.
“This past Thursday, December 15, we interdicted three vehicles with 25 undocumented aliens, and on Saturday we stopped another pick-up with 16 people aboard. In the incident on December 15, The organization headed by Tomas Lara-Sanchez lost approximately $150,000, and on the Saturday operation he lost approximately $100,000,” said San Diego Border Patrol spokesperson Eduardo Olmos.
Tomas Lara-Sanchez, a landowner with about 494 acres in Mexico near the border with San Diego County, has been identified by Homeland Security as a drug and human smuggler since July 30, 2009.
On December 16 of this year, American authorities released a document naming him as a wanted person operating in the areas of Campo and Boulevard.
“It is important for the community to help us fight his kind of criminal organizations; anyone who may have any information is asked to call 619-216-4180,” Said Border Patrol agent Saul Rocha.
U.S. authorities have ramped up operations and number of agents along the border, particularly in these areas where they know Lara-Sanchez and his transnational criminal organization operates, given his history of using tactics that endanger the community.
“These ‘coyotes’ don’t stop when they see Border Patrol, so this makes us concerned for the safety of the community, of the immigrants, and of our officers. This organization has been violent in the past, and we have no doubt it could become violent once more. They have had guns when arrested, have attacked agents, they have kidnapped immigrants, and have even threatened immigrants as well as threatened agents,” said Olmos.
Border Patrol and federal enforcement agencies ask the community to report anything that could lead to Tomas Lara-Sanchez or about his criminal strategies. Information can be provided anonymously by calling (619) 216-41-80. There are English and Spanish-speaking operators 24 hours a day.