Steve Neavling

A former Border Patrol agent pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping smuggle an undocumented Mexican immigrant into the U.S. in exchange for a bribe, the El Paso Times reports.

In a Las Cruces federal court, Gabriel Burke, 42, admitted he was persuaded to violate his official duty between December 2011 and February 2012.

Prosecutors allege Burke, who has been free on bond, accepted $1,100 to help the immigrant pass into the U.S., the El Paso Times reported.

When sentenced, Burke faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Steve Neavling

Cameras are helping Border Patrol make arrests in areas where agents can’t always monitor, the Brownsville Herald reports.

The technology in the lower Rio Grande Valley also helps agents keep an eye on the suspects while authorities move in. Border Patrol spokesman Henry Mendiola said told the Herald.

Last week, agents seized more than 800 pounds of marijuana after a camera spotted nine people carrying bundles.

Without the cameras, agents may have gotten away, Border Patrol said.

“In the past, when a sensor was tripped we’d have to physically go out there and see if something happened,” Border Patrol spokesman Henry Mendiola said. said. “But with this technology, we can continuously monitor a situation until agents are able to respond. … It allows us to do our job more efficiently and effectively.”

Steve Neavling

Fox 5 San Diego listed some unusual ways people have tried to smuggle drugs and humans across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Also included are photos, including one of a man found sewn into the upholstery of a van seat.

Other photos depict people hidden in compartments in the floor of a car or hidden in the engine of a van.

In one photo, 73 illegal immigrants are squeezed into the back of a tractor trailer.

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Steve Neavling

Federal authorities are alarmed at what appears to be an increase in cartels recruiting children and teenagers to smuggle drugs over the U.S. border, NBC 7 in San Diego reports.

Federal agents said children as young as 12 are being used as drug mules.

“It shocks me and saddens me that kids are getting involved. It doesn’t shock me that cartels will use whatever method they need,” Jose Garcia, a deputy special agent for ICE Homeland Security Investigations, told NBC 7.

Cartels are recruiting children outside schools and malls and by using social media, agents told NBC 7.

Making matters worse, the children appear to be moving more meth across the border.

Steve Neavling

 Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with a suspected smuggler on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

“Our agents are not going to tolerate this,” Border Patrol spokesman Henry Mendiola said Tuesday. “They’re well-trained, they’re well equipped, and they will respond to neutralize these threats.”

The Friday shooting began when agents spotted smugglers loading more than a half-ton of marijuana into an SUV, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Someone fired at agents who were pursuing the driver and smugglers,

Agents returned fire.

There were no reports of injuries.

The suspected smugglers, all Mexican nationals, were arrested on drug charges.

It was the end of the line Friday for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents who fled to Mexico while under investigation for smuggling hundreds of illegal immigrants.

The Los Angeles Times reports that two, who are brothers, were convicted in federal court in San Diego of multiple counts of conspiracy, bribery and human smuggling. The brothers names are Raul Villarreal, 42, and Fidel Villarreal, 44.

In 2006, the two fled to Mexico after catching wind that they were under investigation. They were eventually captured.

By Danny Fenster

The TSA has got the Christmas-time itch for unwrapping gifts.

The agency has announced a zero-tolerance towards wrapped gifts after one passenger was found to be carrying marijuana in a wrapped gift, reports CBS Los Angeles. That means the TSA will unwrap your wrap if it’s suspicious.

The TSA realizes there  are many other items that could be disguised as gifts during the holiday season, says the CBS report. “Certain sporting items such as bats, bows and arrows and pool cues cannot be brought on board unless checked,” it reads.

To read more click here.

DETROIT — There’s different kinds of Ooops. There’s the recent one when presidential candidate Rick Perry had a senior moment during the debates. Then there’s the ones where authorities arrest the wrong guy.

This one involved the wrong guy.

The Detroit Free Press reports that police, acting on an FBI arrest warrant, mistakenly arrested an Arab-American leader in Dearborn Friday night in connection with a cigarette smuggling probe and supporting Hezbollah.

Ali Hammoud, president of the Bint Jebail Cultural Center, was released on Saturday after the FBI questioned him and figured out they had the wrong guy, the Free Press reported.

Detroit FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold told the Free Press: “The individual fit the description/identifiers of an active warrant. It was later determined it was not the correct individual, and he was released.”