Sensors help border agents track down suspected drug smugglers in NM’s ‘Bootheel’

Sensors alerted border agents to a drug smuggling attempt Wednesday afternoon in New Mexico’s Bootheel.

The sensor activity led border agents and a Customs and Border Protection helicopter to a remote area, where they spotted a pickup heading north Country Road 1 outside of Lordsburg.

The truck then turned around appeared to start heading back to the border, but agents on the ground were able to deploy spikes and disabled the Ford F-250.

Two men jumped out of the truck and tried to run away, but were immeduiately caught. They were identified as Jose Vara Perez and Jesus Salcedo Ramirez, both citizens of Mexico.

Inside the truck, agents 1,814 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $1,451,000, officials said.

On Tuesday morning, agents assigned to the Clint Border Patrol Station agents spotted two men carrying large backpacks just west of the Tornillo Port of Entry. Using ATVs, agents were able to follow the men’s footprints and found them hiding in bushes. Agents said the the two backpacks contained a total of 115 pounds of marijuana valued at $92,000. Jorge Arturo Rodriguez Rodriguez, 36, and Felix Cecilio Rodriguez Rodriguez, 31, both from Mexico, were turned over to federal authorities.